Philippe Germain is a French politician who served as President of the Government of New Caledonia from 2015 to 2019.

[2] Ligeard accused Germain of "betrayal" and blamed the French government for engineering her defeat.

[2][3] Fifteen members of Congress and three government ministers boycotted Germain's first policy address as president, during which he spoke for two hours and talked about New Caledonia's capacity to govern itself if voters choose independence in an upcoming referendum.

[4] Within weeks of taking office, Germain fired the assistants of Ligeard and two other government ministers,[5] although they were swiftly reinstated by court order.

[6] Germain and Ligeard also clashed over the former's decision to forgive a $26 million debt owed by the Kanak-owned mining company SMSP in April 2015, with Ligeard denying that her government had previously agreed to the concession as Germain claimed.