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Legislative elections were held in New Caledonia on 11 May 2014. [1] The result was a victory for the three anti-independence parties (Caledonia Together, Front for Unity and Union for Caledonia in France), which together won 29 of the 54 seats (48.85% of the votes, 53.7% of the seats) in the Congress of New Caledonia. [2]
Voters elected 87 members to the assemblies of the three provinces of New Caledonia. In turn, 54 also become members of the Congress. Voting was restricted to people on the Special Roll, which excluded people who moved to New Caledonia after 1988. [3]
A total of 17 parties registered to contest the elections. [4]
The main issue at stake in the elections was independence from France. The elected Congress would be responsible for taking decisions on moving towards independence, as agreed in the Nouméa Accord, and an independence referendum will be held during the term of this Congress if there is a three-fifths majority in favour of holding one. [3] However, in the lead up to the elections, the pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front claimed that around 6,700 people on the Special Roll had moved to New Caledonia after 1988, and that 2,000 people who should have been on the Special Roll and were eligible to vote in the Territorial elections were not, the two figures equating to around 7% of registered voters. [3] In response, anti-independence groups claimed that 4,000 Kanaks should be removed from the electoral roll, [5] and that taking the issue to court would threaten a return to violence. [6]
A television debate was planned to discuss the electoral roll issue, but was cancelled at the last minute. [6] The United Nations sent a delegation to the territory in March 2014 to look into the controversy around the electoral lists, and to ensure that the Accords were upheld. [7] Although the French government approved the UN delegation, the anti-independence Union for New Caledonia within France and Caledonia Together opposed their presence. [7]
| Party | Position | Votes | % | Seats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Provincial assemblies | +/– | Congress | +/– | ||||||
| Caledonia Together | Anti-independence | 27,424 | 26.05 | 19 | +7 | 15 | +5 | ||
| Front for Unity | Anti-independence | 13,649 | 12.97 | 9 | –14 | 7 | –11 | ||
| Caledonian Union | Pro-independence | 13,602 | 12.92 | 15 | +1 | 9 | +1 | ||
| Union for Caledonia in France | Anti-independence | 12,539 | 11.91 | 8 | +6 | 6 | +4 | ||
| Build Our Rainbow Nation | Pro-independence | 12,289 | 11.67 | 7 | +3 | 6 | +3 | ||
| National Union for Independence | Pro-independence | 10,929 | 10.38 | 11 | +1 | 7 | +1 | ||
| Labour Party | Pro-independence | 3,678 | 3.49 | 2 | –5 | 1 | –3 | ||
| National Front | Anti-independence | 2,706 | 2.57 | 0 | – | 0 | – | ||
| North Province Agreement [lower-alpha 1] | Anti-independence | 2,191 | 2.08 | 1 | – | 1 | – | ||
| Convergence Country | Anti-independence | 2,190 | 2.08 | 0 | – | 0 | – | ||
| Kanak Socialist Liberation | Pro-independence | 1,566 | 1.49 | 2 | – | 1 | – | ||
| Union for Building the Loyalty Islands | Pro-independence | 1,564 | 1.49 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | ||
| The Other Voice | Anti-independence | 939 | 0.89 | 0 | – | 0 | – | ||
| Total | 105,266 | 100.00 | 76 | 0 | 54 | 0 | |||
| Valid votes | 105,266 | 98.68 | |||||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,410 | 1.32 | |||||||
| Total votes | 106,676 | 100.00 | |||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 152,457 | 69.97 | |||||||
| Source: New Caledonia Government | |||||||||
New Caledonia is a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, south of Vanuatu, about 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia, and 17,000 km (11,000 mi) from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre "Le Caillou".
New Caledonia is a French sui generis collectivity with a system of government based on parliamentarism and representative democracy. The President of the Government is the head of government, and there is a multi-party system, with Executive power being exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Congress of New Caledonia. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Future Together was a center-right political party in New Caledonia supporting the maintenance of political and administrative ties with France.
The Caledonian Union is a pro-independence and the oldest political party in New Caledonia. In the latest legislative elections of May 10, 2009, the party won around 11.65% of the popular vote, and 9 out of 54 seats in the Territorial Congress.
The Federation of Pro-Independence Co-operation Committees is a political party in New Caledonia supporting the island's independence from France, although it is the most moderate of all nationalist parties.
The Kanak Socialist Liberation is a Kanak pro-independence and socialist political party in New Caledonia.
The Nouméa Accord of 1998 is a promise by the French Republic to grant increased political power to New Caledonia and its original population, the Kanaks, over a twenty-year transition period. It was signed 5 May 1998 by Lionel Jospin, and approved in a referendum in New Caledonia on 8 November, with 72% voting in favour. Under the accord, two more referendum votes, on whether to remain a special collectivity of France or become an independent state, have been held. One was held in 2018, and the second was held in 2020. In both votes a majority chose to remain French. The Nouméa Accord permitted a final referendum to be held, voted for by the Congress of New Caledonia. It was held December 2021 and widely rejected independence amid boycott by the independence movement.
Two flags are in use in New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France. Up to 2010, the only flag used to represent New Caledonia was the flag of France, a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue, white, and red known to English speakers as the French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour. However, in July 2010, the Congress of New Caledonia voted in favour of a wish to fly the Kanak flag of the independence movement FLNKS alongside the French Tricolour. The wish, legally non-binding, proved controversial. A majority of New Caledonian communes, but not all, now fly both flags, the rest flying only the French Tricolour.
The Labour Party is a New Caledonian political party established on 18 November 2007. It is radically pro-independence and backed by the trade union Union of Kanak and Exploited Workers (USTKE). It is considered close to the French alterglobalization movement led by José Bové.
The French Republic and the Republic of Vanuatu have long-standing bilateral relations which have varied over the years between tense and amicable. Vanuatu, then known as the New Hebrides, was a Franco-British condominium from 1906 to 1980, and maintained formal relations with both of its former colonial masters after gaining independence. Franco–Vanuatuan relations were rocked by a series of crises in the 1980s, and broke down completely on several occasions, with Vanuatu expelling the French ambassador in 1981, in 1984 and in 1987. Relations improved from the 1990s onwards and, today, France provides development aid to Vanuatu. The two countries also share amicable economic and cultural relations; both are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.
Legislative elections were held in New Caledonia on 10 May 2009. Voters elected 76 members of the three provincial assemblies, of whom 54 were also to become members of the territorial Congress.
The National Union for Independence is a militant socialist pro-independence alliance of political parties in New Caledonia. It is a component of the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) along with the Caledonian Union.
Philippe Germain is a French politician who served as President of the Government of New Caledonia from 2015 to 2019. He was elected to the presidency on 1 April 2015 with a five-year mandate.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 4 November 2018. Voters were given the choice of remaining part of France or becoming an independent country.
Legislative elections were held in New Caledonia on 8 February 1953.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 4 October 2020. The poll was the second to be held under the terms of the Nouméa Accord, following a similar referendum in 2018.
Legislative elections were held in New Caledonia on 11 September 1977. Anti-autonomy parties won 19 of the 35 seats.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas collectivity of New Caledonia on 18 March 2020. All cases are on the main island of Grand Terre and are related to travel abroad. On 7 May, all cases had recovered.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific, on 12 December 2021. The poll was the third and final to be held under the terms of the Nouméa Accord, following votes in 2018 and 2020, in which independence was rejected by 56.7% and 53.3% respectively.
Caroline Machoro-Reignier is a Kanak politician in New Caledonia. A member of the pro-independence Caledonian Union, she led the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front alliance in the Congress of New Caledonia from 2011 to 2014. In 1988, she was one of the signatories of the Matignon Agreements between New Caledonian loyalists and separatists.
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