New Caledonia votes in first provincial elections since 2019 as independence talks loom
Voters in the French Pacific territory went to the polls Sunday for long-delayed provincial elections, with a turnout of 54.4 percent, as the independence question hangs over future talks with Paris.
Polls opened at 8 a.m. local time under heavy security, with about 2,500 police deployed to secure stations across the archipelago. By the time voting closed at 6 p.m., turnout had reached 54.42 percent, slightly below the 58.49 percent at the same point in 2019. Some 192,500 eligible voters cast ballots to elect 76 councillors for three provincial assemblies: 40 in the South Province, 22 in the North and 14 in the Loyalty Islands.
My grandparents fought hard to secure the right to vote. I want to see things change.
A vote shaped by deadlock and violence
The elections were originally scheduled for 2024 but were postponed three times after riots in May that year killed 14 people and caused more than €2 billion in damage. The violence erupted over a plan to extend voting rights to non-Indigenous long-term residents. A subsequent law added about 10,575 previously excluded native-born residents to the electoral roll, including more than 4,000 Kanaks with customary civil status.
The independence fault line
The vote pits pro-France loyalists against a pro-independence camp led by the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front). While pro-France parties united behind a single Loyalist list, divisions within the independence movement mean several groups are contesting separately. A growing number of smaller parties are campaigning on social issues and economic recovery rather than constitutional questions.
Above all, I hope we can stabilise the country and manage to find common ground.
Three referendums and a rejected accord
New Caledonia has held three independence referendums, in 2018, 2020 and 2021, all of which returned majorities in favour of remaining part of France. The 2021 vote was boycotted by pro-independence groups, who continue to command strong support among the indigenous Melanesian Kanak population. A proposed Bougival Accord, which would have created a Caledonian state and enshrined Caledonian nationality in the French constitution while scrapping future referendums, was rejected by the main pro-independence group.
- First independence referendum: a majority chooses to stay part of France.
- Second independence referendum: result again favours remaining French.
- Third referendum boycotted by pro-independence groups; remaining part of France confirmed.
- Riots erupt over planned voting rights extension; 14 killed, €2bn in damage.
- Law adds 10,575 native-born residents to the electoral roll.
- Provincial elections held with 54.42% turnout; 192,500 voters elect 76 councillors.
What comes next
Of the 76 councillors elected, 54 will form the Congress, the territory's main governing body and sole law-making authority. Congress members will then elect up to 11 members to the collegiate executive. The new balance of power will determine who leads the next round of negotiations with Paris over New Caledonia's political status. French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu had committed law enforcement deployments to remain until mid-July, underscoring the sensitivity of the vote.
