New Caledonia’s non-independence parties gained ground in provincial elections on Sunday, according to provisional results, in a vote expected to shape the next round of talks with France over the Pacific territory’s future status.
The poll – the first provincial election since 2019 – took place peacefully under tight security, more than two years after deadly unrest shook the archipelago. Turnout stood at 63.71 percent, down from 66.50 percent in the previous election, according to local authorities.
In the Southern Province, which includes the capital Noumea, a joint list formed by the two main non-independence parties – Les Loyalistes and Le Rassemblement – won around 50 percent of the vote, according to provisional results.
The bloc was projected to secure 24 of the 54 seats in New Caledonia’s Congress, up from 19, making it the largest grouping but leaving it short of the 28 seats needed for an absolute majority.
Pro-independence parties were projected to retain 26 seats, helped by strong support in the Northern Province, a long-standing stronghold of the independence movement. But those seats are expected to be split between three lists – 16 for the main pro-independence group FLNKS, seven for UNI-Palika and three for Dynamique Autochtone.
Eveil Oceanien – a party founded in 2019 to represent the interests of New Caledonia’s Wallisian and Futunian community – was estimated to win four seats. Moderate non-independence parties failed to secure representation, with none reaching the threshold of five percent of registered voters.
Peaceful poll
Around 192,500 voters were eligible to elect 76 councillors to New Caledonia’s three provincial assemblies – 40 in the Southern Province, 22 in the Northern Province and 14 in the Loyalty Islands.
Of those elected, 54 will sit in Congress, the territory’s main governing body and the only institution authorised to pass local laws. Congress members will then choose up to 11 members of the collegial government, New Caledonia’s executive branch.
The vote was closely watched after the violence of 2024, which erupted over a proposed change to voting rights. Fourteen people were killed and damage was estimated at more than two billion euros.
France deployed around 2,400 law enforcement officers to New Caledonia for the election period. They are expected to remain in place until mid-July.
Despite the tense political backdrop, the atmosphere in Noumea was calm on Sunday, according to journalists.
Future status
The election comes after the main pro-independence movement rejected a proposed agreement with France aimed at easing tensions and setting a new institutional path for the territory.
The Bougival Accord would have created a Caledonian state and established a Caledonian nationality written into the French constitution. But it would also have ruled out any future referendums on full independence – a key point of contention for pro-independence parties.
New Caledonia held three referendums on independence in 2018, 2020 and 2021. Each produced a majority in favour of remaining part of France, but pro-independence groups boycotted the third vote, which was held during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Support for independence remains strong, particularly among the indigenous Melanesian Kanak population.
A law passed in May added around 10,575 previously excluded “native-born” residents to the electoral roll for Sunday’s vote. They included more than 4,000 people with so-called customary civil status, which mainly applies to Kanaks.
The change expanded the number of eligible voters after the provincial electoral roll had been frozen under the 1998 Noumea Accord, a landmark agreement that set out a gradual transfer of powers from Paris to the territory.
But electoral reform remains one of the most sensitive issues in New Caledonia. A previous plan to extend voting rights to thousands of non-Indigenous long-term residents triggered the deadly unrest in 2024.
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has said negotiations on New Caledonia’s future will resume next month, with the aim of reaching an agreement by the end of the year.
(With newswires)
