Paris, May 16: French President Emmanuel Macron is considering imposing state of emergency in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia to curb spiralling violence, the presidency said Wednesday.

Speaking at parliament, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who attended a two-hour meeting with top defense officials at the Elysee, said the aim of the state of emergency would be “to restore order in the shortest time possible.”

A decree on the methods to impose the state of emergency is to be presented to the French Cabinet on Wednesday afternoon.

French authorities in the territory said that more than 130 people have been arrested and more than 300 have been injured since Monday in the violence.

Earlier, President Macron convened a meeting of top ministers to discuss spiralling violence in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia after at least two people were killed and four others were seriously injured, Wednesday.

It was the third day of violent unrest over a constitutional reform pushed by Paris that has roiled the archipelago, which has long sought independence.

Macron’s office said that the president also cancelled a trip he had been planning to northwest France on Wednesday while he focused on the crisis.

French authorities in the territory said that more than 130 people have been arrested and more than 300 have been injured since Monday in the violence that has raged across the archipelago, where there have been decades of tensions between Indigenous Kanaks seeking independence and descendants of colonizers who want to remain part of France.

The special defense and security council meeting called by Macron typically brings together a limited group of officials, including Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and the ministers for defense, interior, economy and foreign affairs.

Minister of Interior and Overseas Territories Gérald Darmanin said that 100 gendarmes were evacuated during violence overnight following “an attack on their station with an axe  and live ammunition.”

“Calm must absolutely be restored,” Darmanin said in an interview with French broadcaster RTL.

On Tuesday, the French Interior Ministry sent police reinforcements to New Caledonia, which long served as a prison colony and now hosts a French military base.

About 1,000 gendarmes and 700 police officers have been deployed and a dozen professionals from a specialized police intervention and riot control unit have also been mobilized, the territory’s top French official, High Commissioner Louis Le Franc, said at a news conference in New Caledonia.

The territory’s political parties appealed for “calm and reason” with people who support independence and those who want the island to remain part of France. (AP)