| President of the Congress of New Caledonia | |
|---|---|
| Residence | Nouméa, South Province |
| Appointer | Congress of New Caledonia |
| Term length | 1 year |
| Formation | 7 October 1985 |
| First holder | Dick Ukeiwé |
| Website | http://www.congres.nc/assemblee/son-organisation/le-president/ |
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|---|
This article lists the presidents of the Congress of New Caledonia since 1985. The President serves as the head, or speaker, of the Congress of New Caledonia.
| Took office | Left office | President |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | 1960 | Armand Ohlen |
| 1960 | 1961 | René Hénin |
| 1961 | 1966 | Antoine Griscelli |
| 1966 | 1970 | Armand Ohlen |
| 1970 | 1972 | Jean Lèques |
| 1972 | 1973 | Michel Kauma |
| 1973 | 1975 | Yann Celene Uregei |
| 1975 | 1976 | Dick Ukeiwé |
| 1976 | 1977 | Rock Pidjot |
| 1977 | 1978 | Dick Ukeiwé |
| 1978 | 1980 | Jean-Pierre Aïfa |
| 1980 | 1981 | Jean Lèques |
| 1981 | 1982 | Jean-Pierre Aïfa |
| 1982 | 1983 | Jean Lèques |
| 1983 | 1984 | Jean-Pierre Aïfa |
| Took office | Left office | President | Notes | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 October 1985 | 2 May 1988 | Dick Ukeiwé | [1] | The Rally–UMP | |
| 2 May 1988 | 11 June 1989 | Albert Etuve | [1] | The Rally–UMP | |
| 28 June 1989 | 7 July 1995 | Simon Loueckhote | [1] | The Rally–UMP | |
| 31 July 1995 | 16 July 1997 | Pierre Frogier | [1] | The Rally–UMP | |
| 16 July 1997 | 3 June 1998 | Harold Martin | [1] | The Rally–UMP | |
| 3 June 1998 | 10 July 2004 | Simon Loueckhote | [1] [2] | The Rally–UMP | |
| 21 July 2004 | 3 July 2007 | Harold Martin | [2] | Future Together | |
| 31 July 2007 | 10 May 2009 | Pierre Frogier | [2] | The Rally–UMP | |
| 22 May 2009 | 3 March 2011 | Harold Martin | [2] | Future Together | |
| 1 April 2011 | 29 August 2012 | Roch Wamytan | [2] | FLNKS | |
| 29 August 2012 | 7 August 2013 | Gérard Poadja | [2] | Caledonia Together | |
| 7 August 2013 | 23 May 2014 | Roch Wamytan | [2] [3] | FLNKS | |
| 23 May 2014 | 17 July 2015 | Gaël Yanno | [2] [4] | Popular Caledonian Movement | |
| 17 July 2015 | 30 July 2018 | Thierry Santa | [2] | The Rally–UMP | |
| 30 July 2018 | 24 May 2019 | Gaël Yanno | [2] | Popular Caledonian Movement | |
| 24 May 2019 | Incumbent | Roch Wamytan | [2] | FLNKS | |
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 one of the European Union's Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs), but is not part of the European Union.
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.
Pierre Frogier is a French politician, who was President of the Government of New Caledonia from 2001 to 2004. He has been French senator for New Caledonia since 2011, and was member of the National Assembly of France from 1996 to 2011. He served as President of the Congress of New Caledonia from 1995 to 1997.
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, 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.
The Congress of New Caledonia, a "territorial congress", is the legislature of New Caledonia. It has 54 members who serve five-year terms, selected proportionally based on the partisan makeup of all three assemblies of the provinces of New Caledonia with a 5% threshold. The congress is headquartered at 1 Boulevard Vauban in downtown Noumea. Local media in New Caledonia refer to the congress as "boulevard Vauban" when referencing it.
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.
Harold Martin is a French politician. He served twice as President of the Government of New Caledonia and three times as President of the Congress of New Caledonia between 1997 and 2011. Former student as a site manager in the ESTP, Martin replaced Marie-Noëlle Thémereau in 2007 as the leader of the ruling Future Together party after the party suffered an electoral setback to choose the territory's two members of the French assembly.
Simon Loueckhote is a French politician and a former member of the Senate of France, representing the island of New Caledonia. He is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement.
Gaël Yanno is a French politician, and a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. He served as President of the Congress of New Caledonia from 2014 to 2015, and again from July 2018 to May 2019.
Dick Ukeiwé was a New Caledonian politician. Born in Lifou, France, he represented the island in the French Senate from 1983 until 1992, and was a member of the Rally for the Republic. He served as President of the Congress of New Caledonia from 1985 to 1988. His son, Bernard Ukeiwé (1953–2008), was also a New Caledonian politician. Ukeiwé died, aged 84, on 3 September 2013 in Dumbéa.
Overseas France consists of 13 French territories outside Europe that have their origins in the French colonial empire. Those that have the status of overseas departments are part of the European Union.
Roch or Rock Wamytan is a Kanak politician from New Caledonia. He is currently serving as President of the Congress of New Caledonia since May 2019, having previously been in the position from 2011 to 2012, and from 2013 to 2014. He was also president of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front.
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.
Thierry Lataste is a senior French civil servant, who served as High Commissioner of New Caledonia from July to August 1994, 1999 to 2002, and again from 2016 to 2019.
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.
The Future with Confidence was a liberal-conservative and anti-independence electoral alliance of political parties in New Caledonia. It formed part of the anti-separatist and French loyalist bloc in the Congress of New Caledonia.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific, on 12 December 2021. The vote was the third and final to be held under the terms of the Nouméa Accord, following votes in 2018 and 2020.
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 six deaths, a recent banning of TikTok, and the declaration of a state of emergency.
Les Loyalistes is a coalition of anti-independence centrist and right-wing political parties in New Caledonia. The Loyalist coalition is led by Sonia Backès. The parties involved are the Caledonian Republicans, the Caledonian People's Movement (MPC), and Générations NC.
