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Do you want the Wallis and Futuna Islands to become an integral part of the French Republic as an overseas territory? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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A referendum on becoming an overseas territory was held in Wallis and Futuna on 27 December 1959. [1] The proposal was approved by 94.37% of voters. [1] Every voter on Wallis voted in favour, whilst all but three of the votes against the proposal were cast in the Futuna Islands. (There were expatriates who voted while in New Caledonia and the New Hebrides.) [1]
The islands were and have continued to be part of France. At the time, they were a French protectorate. A year and a half after the referendum — on 29 July 1961, the islands officially became an overseas territory. [2] They have since changed status again, becoming an overseas collectivity in 2003.
Do you want the Wallis and Futuna Islands to become an integral part of the French Republic as an overseas territory?
(Original: Désirez-vous que les îles Wallis et Futuna fassent partie intégrante de la République française sous la forme d'un territoire d'outre-mer ?)
Choice | Votes | % |
---|---|---|
For | 4,307 | 94.37 |
Against | 257 | 5.63 |
Invalid/blank votes | 12 | – |
Total | 4,576 | 100 |
Registered voters/turnout | 4,695 | 97.47 |
Source: Direct Democracy |
Politics of French Polynesia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic French overseas collectivity, whereby the President of French Polynesia is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Assembly of French Polynesia.
Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands, is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast, Samoa to the east, and Tokelau to the northeast.
The geography of France consists of a terrain that is mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in the north and the west and mountainous in the south and the east. Metropolitan France has a total size of 551,695 km2 (213,011 sq mi). It is the third-largest country in Europe by area and the largest in Western Europe.
The administrative divisions of France are concerned with the institutional and territorial organization of French territory. These territories are located in many parts of the world. There are many administrative divisions, which may have political, electoral (districts), or administrative objectives. All the inhabited territories are represented in the National Assembly, Senate and Economic and Social Council and their citizens have French citizenship and elect the President of France.
Metropolitan France, also known as European France, is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European regions of France is used in everyday life in France but has no administrative meaning, with the exception of only Metropolitan France being part of the Schengen Area. Indeed, the overseas regions have exactly the same administrative status as the metropolitan regions. Metropolitan France comprises mainland France and Corsica, as well as nearby French islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its borders have undergone significant changes over the centuries, particularly in the east, but have remained unaltered since 1947.
A territorial collectivity, or territorial authority, in many francophone countries, is a legal entity governed by public law that exercises within its territory certain powers devolved to it by the State as part of a decentralization process. In France, it also refers to a chartered administrative division of France with recognized governing authority. It is the generic name for any territory with an elective form of local government and local regulatory authority. The nature of a French territorial collectivity is set forth in Article 72 of the Constitution of France (1958), which provides for local autonomy within limits prescribed by law.
The term overseas territory is an administrative division of France and is currently only applied to the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
Politics of Wallis and Futuna takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic French overseas collectivity, whereby the President of the Territorial Assembly is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government.
The French overseas collectivities are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French overseas colonies and other French overseas entities with a particular status, all of which became COMs by constitutional reform on 28 March 2003. The COMs differ from overseas regions and overseas departments, which have the same status as metropolitan France but are located outside Europe. As integral parts of France, overseas collectivities are represented in the National Assembly, Senate and Economic and Social Council. Though some are outside the European Union, all can vote to elect members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The Pacific COMs use the CFP franc, a currency pegged to the euro, whereas the Atlantic COMs use the euro itself. As of 31 March 2011, there were six COMs:
The Territorial Assembly of Wallis and Futuna is the legislature of Wallis and Futuna. It consists of 20 members, elected for a five-year term by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies. The Assembly sits in Mata Utu, the capital of the territory.
The constituency of Wallis and Futuna is a French legislative constituency covering the whole of the overseas collectivity of Wallis and Futuna. It is represented in the XVIth legislature by Mikaele Seo of Renaissance who defeated fellow centrist Etuato Mulikihaamea in the 2022 election.
ʻUvea is one of the three official chiefdoms of the French territory of Wallis and Futuna in Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean.
Overseas France consists of 13 French territories outside Europe, mostly the remnants of the French colonial empire that remained a part of the French state under various statuses after decolonisation. Most, but not all are part of the European Union.
Nivaleta Iloai was a politician from Wallis and Futuna. She served as the first female president of the Territorial Assembly of Wallis and Futuna from April 1 to December 11, 2013, as well as November 26, 2020 to March 25, 2022.
Elections for the Territorial Assembly of Wallis and Futuna were held on 20 March 2022 where all 20 seats were up for election.
Mikaele Kulimoetoke is a Wallisian politician and member of the Territorial Assembly of Wallis and Futuna. He was president of the Territorial Assembly of Wallis and Futuna from 2014 to 2017. He has represented Wallis and Futuna in the Senate of France since 2020.
The 1961 Statute of Wallis and Futuna, formally designated as Law No. 61-814 of July 29, 1961, conferred upon the islands of Wallis and Futuna the status of an overseas territory. This legislative act effectively transformed the protectorate of Wallis and Futuna into an overseas territory of the French Republic. The Pacific islands thus became an integral part of the French Republic, while retaining their distinct institutional characteristics. In addition to the French authorities, the traditional authorities, particularly the customary kings of Uvea, Alo, and Sigave, their ministers, and village chiefs, are officially recognized.
Loi n° 61-814 du 29 juillet 1961 conférant aux îles Wallis et Futuna le statut de territoire d'outre-mer