A yes vote would see New Caledonia assume full sovereignty after a two-year transition period. A no vote would require a new status to be drawn up for the archipelago – a document that would also need to be put to a referendum.
Despite voters in New Caledonia twice rejecting independence – in 2018 and 2020 – France granted a request by the island’s pro-independence party to hold another vote.
Le troisième référendum en Nouvelle-Calédonie aura lieu le 12 décembre 2021, annonce Sebastien Lecornu https://t.co/i4QX6HzNnr pic.twitter.com/sAbdtUxNmV
— NC La 1ère (@ncla1ere) June 2, 2021
Under the rules of the 1998 Noumea Accord, which set out a 20-year path towards decolonisation, up to three referenda on independence are allowed.
The gap between supporters and opponents of independence narrowed significantly in the second referendum, with those in favour rising from 43.3 percent to 46.7 percent.
Valuable subsidies
While New Caledonia has a large amount of autonomy, it relies heavily on France for defence, health and education – receiving 1.5 billion euros in subsidies in 2019 alone.
Prime Minister Jean Castex has asked the yes campaign, made up mostly of indigenous Kanaks, to be clear about how those economic subsidies would be replaced.
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Colonised by Napoleon in 1853, New Caledonia has 25 percent of the world’s nickel reserves, while the coastlines around the island allow France strategic access to Pacific waters.
Around 41 percent of the population is Kanak people, while people of European origin, who are known as Caldoches and are largely in favour of remaining French, make up 24.1 percent.
The leftover 35 percent of the island’s population of 270,000 people, who mostly come from nearby countries, fall into both camps.
