Politics of New Caledonia

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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 executive and the Congress of New Caledonia. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Contents

Political developments

Article 77 of the Constitution of France and the Organic Law 99-209 confers a unique status on New Caledonia between that of an independent country and a regular collectivité d'outre-mer or overseas collectivité of France. A territorial congress and government have been established, and the 1998 Nouméa Accord organized a devolution of powers. Key areas such as taxation, labor law, health and hygiene and foreign trade are already in the hands of the Congress. Further powers will supposedly be given to the Congress in the near future.

Under article 4 of the Organic Law 99-209 a New Caledonian citizenship has also been introduced: only New Caledonian citizens (defined by article 188) have the right to vote in the local elections. This measure has been criticized, because it creates a second-class status for French citizens living in New Caledonia who do not possess New Caledonian citizenship (because they settled in the territory only recently). New Caledonia is also allowed to engage in international cooperation with independent countries of the Pacific Ocean. Finally, the territorial Congress is allowed to pass statutes that are contrary[ further explanation needed ] to French law in a certain number of areas.

On the other hand, New Caledonia remains an integral part of the French Republic. Inhabitants of New Caledonia are French citizens and carry French passports. They take part in the legislative and presidential French elections. New Caledonia sends two representatives to the French National Assembly and two senators to the French Senate. The representative of the French central state in New Caledonia is the High Commissioner of the Republic (Haut-Commissaire de la République, locally known as "haussaire"), who is the head of civil services, and who sits in the government of the territory.

The Nouméa Accord stipulates that the Congress will have the right to call for a referendum on independence after 2014, at a time of its choosing. Following the timeline set by the Nouméa Accord, the groundwork was laid for a Referendum on full independence from France at a meeting chaired by the French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe on 2 November 2017, with the referendum to be held by November 2018. Voter list eligibility had been a subject of a long dispute, but the details were resolved at this meeting. [1] In the 2018 referendum, voters narrowly chose to remain a part of France. Two further referendums were permitted, being held in 2020 and 2021. 2020 saw slimmer margins than in the 2018 referendum, with 46.74% in favor of independence, while the 2021 vote overwhelmingly rejected independence, with 96.49% against it but on only a 43.87% turnout. [2] Kanak communities largely boycotted this referendum, advised by their leadership and still in mourning following mortality in the covid-19 pandemic. [3]

The current president of the government elected by the Congress is Louis Mapou, from the pro-independence Palika political party.

In May 2024, riots broke out following controversial voting reforms. See 2024 New Caledonia unrest.

Executive branch

Main office-holders
OfficeNamePartySince
High CommissionerLouis Le Franc6 February 2023
President of the Government Louis Mapou National Union for Independence-Palika 22 July 2021

The high commissioner is appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior. The president of the government is elected by the members of the Territorial Congress.

Legislative branch

The Congress (Congrès) has 54 members, being the members of the three regional councils, all elected for a five-year term by proportional representation. Furthermore, there is a 16-member Kanak Customary Senate (two members from each of the eight customary aires).

Political parties and elections

Latest territorial election

PartyVotes%Seats
Provincial
assemblies
+/–Congress+/–
Future with Confidence 32,33629.3523+718+5
Caledonia Together 15,94814.489–117–8
Caledonian UnionFLNKS 14,25512.9415–29–1
National Union for Independence 12,67911.5114+39+2
Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front 11,26910.237+16+1
Oceanian Awakening 6,0775.524New3New
Labour Party 4,1823.802010
National Rally 2,7072.460000
Citizens' Alliance2,0431.850New0New
New Independence and Sovereignty Movement1,9711.790New0New
Building Differently1,8521.680New0New
Common Caledonian Destiny1,6671.510New0New
Kanak Socialist Liberation 1,5361.392010
New and Reunited Caledonia8410.760New0New
Unitary Kanaky Generation8000.730New0New
Total110,163100.00760540
Valid votes110,16397.70
Invalid/blank votes2,5972.30
Total votes112,760100.00
Registered voters/turnout169,63566.47
Source: New Caledonia Government

Parliamentarians

French National Assembly

French Senate

Judicial branch

Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; County Courts; Joint Commerce Tribunal Court; Children's Court

Administrative divisions

New Caledonia is divided into three provinces: Province des Îles , Province Nord , and Province Sud - which are further subdivided into 33 communes.

International organization participation

See also

Related Research Articles

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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, a nickname also used more generally for the entire New Caledonia. Pro-independence Kanak parties use the name (la) Kanaky to refer to New Caledonia, a term coined in the 1980s from the ethnic name of the indigenous Melanesian Kanak people who make up 41% of New Caledonia's population. New Caledonia is one of the European Union's Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), but it is not part of the European Union.

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Future Together was a center-right political party in New Caledonia supporting the maintenance of political and administrative ties with France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caledonian Union</span> Political party in New Caledonia

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 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 indigenous 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, three 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flags of New Caledonia</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 New Caledonian legislative election</span>

Legislative elections were held in New Caledonia on 11 May 2014. The result was a victory for the three anti-independence parties, which together won 29 of the 54 seats in the Congress of New Caledonia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kanak people</span> Indigenous people of New Caledonia

The Kanaks are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. Kanak peoples traditionally speak diverse Austronesian languages that belong to the New Caledonian branch of Oceanic. According to the 2019 census, the Kanaks make up 41.2% of New Caledonia's total population — corresponding to around 112,000 people. The other populations are the Caldoche, who are European born in New Caledonia; the Zoreille, who were born in metropolitan France and live in New Caledonia, in addition to about 10% that are non-Kanak Polynesians and 10% that are mixed race.

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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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 New Caledonian independence referendum</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 New Caledonian independence referendum</span>

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.

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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.

In May 2024, protests and riots broke out in New Caledonia, a sui generis collectivity of overseas France in the Pacific Ocean. The violent protests have led to eight deaths, the declaration of a state of emergency on 16 May, deployment of the French army, and the block of the social network TikTok.

References

  1. "Nouvelle-Calédonie : ce que contient l'" accord politique " sur le référendum d'autodétermination". Le Monde .
  2. "New Caledonia rejects independence in final vote amid boycott". Reuters. 12 December 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  3. 2021 New Caledonian independence referendum

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