Proponents of maintaining New Caledonia in France have kept a narrow majority in the Archipelago Congress after the provincial elections on Sunday, according to figures sent by the High Commission of the Republic. Six months after the rejection of independence by referendum, the non-independence right would get 28 elected out of 54, against 26 independentist, according to projections made from the figures of the High Commission. This crucial vote opened the final mandate stemming from the Nouméa agreement.
A net flip right
After losing the referendum with a score of 43.3% far superior to polls ads, the separatists hoped to ride this dynamic and take the reins of Congress and the government, while the new elected will have the heavy responsibility to build with Paris a new status for New Caledonia. Mandate after mandate, the separatists gained ground since 1998 and had in the outgoing Congress of 25 elected out of 54. Sunday, it was for the 169,635 voters to renew the 76 councilors of the three provinces, 40 in the southern province, 22 in that of the North and 14 in that of the Loyalty Islands.
The result is marked by a clear right turn. Caledonia Together, a moderate right-wing party, which ruled the southern province and the government, suffered a stinging defeat for its rival L'Avenir en confiance. This list brought together three parties close to LR, who had decided to bury the hatchet in the aftermath of the referendum. The Future in Confidence wins 18 elected representatives in Congress and 20 elected out of 40 in the southern province. For the separatists, "the only way out of the Noumea agreement is full sovereignty" and they want to go "to the end" of the text, which provides for the organization of a second and possibly a third referendum in 2020 and 2022.