Referendum in New Caledonia: the future remains to be built

Election observers in a polling station in Nouméa on December 12, 2021. AP - Clotilde Richalet

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It is a final score supposed to close years of debate around relations with France.

The "no" to independence therefore won on Sunday by 96% in the third and last referendum on the issue in New Caledonia.

A vote boycotted by the independence camp and marked by a very strong abstention.

This Monday, the separatists grouped together in the strategic independentist committee of non-participation declared not to recognize " 

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The two camps will now have to get back around the table.

Sébastien Lecornu the Minister of Overseas is on site in Nouméa, ready to discuss.

The government has provided for a transition period of 18 months, a year and a half to replace the Noumea Accord, which came to an end, with a new statute with a referendum, ultimately no later than June 2023, reports

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Social inequalities, financial difficulties, the Indo-Pacific axis… Emmanuel Macron has drawn up the list of questions to be addressed, there are also very sensitive subjects to settle, that of the electorate which determines who can vote in particular.

► To read also: New Caledonia: overwhelming victory of the "no" to independence, against a background of record abstention

On the evening of the consultation, the non-independence leader Sonia Backès immediately put the angry subject on the table: the freezing of the electorate which provides for a period of residence to be able to vote in the main local elections, with the exception of municipal elections. , details

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A bone of contention since the 1980s, this freeze is considered undemocratic by supporters of the “no” but also by those of the “yes”.

For the separatists who believe they have done their part by accepting that non-native populations participate in the elections, opening up the electorate would be tantamount to drowning the independence demand.

The fight for independence continues

However, the thread of the dialogue will not resume immediately. The separatists grouped together in the Strategic Independentist Committee for Non-Participation “ 

”, they finally indicated in a press release.

We can consider that this last referendum is a sign of the failure of the separatists.

If ever there was this refusal, this rejection to participate in the referendum, it is also because the political context was not at all favorable given the difficulties of the New Caledonian government in the face of the crisis.

Very clearly if there had been no boycott, that would not have prevented the "No" from winning, so it is a bit of an exit from the bottom for the separatists, now the future remains to be seen. to construct.

Benjamin Morel, political scientist at the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas and doctor in political science

In reality, Caledonian elected officials of all stripes will let the French presidential election pass before talking about the institutional future of Caledonia, the time to digest the end of a process that began three decades ago.

"

" launched Sunday Roch Wamytan, figure of the FLNKS and current president of the Congress. 

The government has understood this well, it will let the time for a "decompression airlock" pass.

In Noumea, Sebasien Lecornu should now simply specify the timetable for the discussions, a first step on a new path.

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