New Caledonia: the question of the date of the third referendum at the center of the debate

Discussions with delegations from New Caledonia will continue this week.

© STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

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Discussions in Paris on the future of New Caledonia resume on Monday.

After the first days devoted to the technical aspect of a possible independence, a more political part begins, but still with a major blockage.

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This Monday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian receives the separatist and loyalist delegations.

On the agenda, the international implications for New Caledonia if the "Yes" to independence were to prevail and in particular the UN component for the future Pacific State.

Tuesday, a plenary session will be organized to take stock

of the Parisian discussions

.

The Minister of Overseas, Sébastien Lecornu, believes that ambiguities and unspoken things have been resolved, in particular on issues of health and public finance, currency, trade agreements and of course the

very strategic nickel reserves

.

But a very delicate subject remains to be tackled, that of the timetable for organizing the third referendum on independence.

And this is where the tensions are the strongest: the separatists tend to wait until 2022, the deadline set by the Nouméa agreements.

The loyalists, for their part, want to go as quickly as possible and favor the fall of 2021, believing that waiting longer would collide the referendum with the French presidential election.

►Also read: Referendum on the independence of New Caledonia: senators propose alternatives

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