NICE, France,  Oct 2, (AP): France's new Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced Tuesday that a provincial election scheduled for December in the restive French Pacific territory of New Caledonia has been postponed for a year. During his inaugural address to parliament, Barnier also said a controversial bill proposed by President Emmanuel Macron to amend the constitution to change voting lists in the territory would not be forwarded to a joint meeting of parliament for ratification.

The territory's Indigenous Kanak people fear changes to the voting registry would favor recent arrivals to the Pacific archipelago. Tensions in New Caledonia have long been simmering between white settler communities loyal to Paris and pro-independence Kanak people. The adoption of the voter list bill in May by both houses of French parliament led to mass demonstrations by pro-independence groups that turned violent, prompting Macron to declare a state of emergency and fly thousands of police and army reinforcements to the Pacific territory.

Thirteen people, mostly Kanaks, and two police officers, have been killed and nearly 3,000 people have been arrested since New Caledonia’s police launched an investigation just days after the unrest started in May. Barnier said the provincial election would be postponed from its scheduled date of Dec. 15 until the end of 2025. New Caledonia has been living through an "exceptionally grave crisis,” Barnier said and added that he will tackle the issues early next year when he plans to convene a government committee on France's overseas territories.