{"id":69465,"date":"2021-12-17T14:30:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T03:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=69465"},"modified":"2021-12-20T21:14:40","modified_gmt":"2021-12-20T10:14:40","slug":"france-under-pacific-scrutiny-after-new-caledonia-referendum-impasse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/france-under-pacific-scrutiny-after-new-caledonia-referendum-impasse\/","title":{"rendered":"France under Pacific scrutiny after New Caledonia referendum impasse"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

New Caledonia\u2019s third independence referendum under the 1998 Noumea Accord was held on 12 December as planned by France, over the opposition of the indigenous-based independence parties. Those parties had\u00a0called for non-participation<\/a>\u00a0if the vote proceeded on that date, given the impact of Covid-19 deaths on Kanak communities and their requirement for extended mourning rites.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0results<\/a>\u00a0show that their call was heeded by more than half of eligible voters. With a turnout of 43.9%, a mere 3.5% favoured independence and 96.5% supported staying with France. This compared with a turnout of 85.7% for the second referendum in 2020, when the pro-France vote was 53.3% and support for independence just under 47%. In the first referendum in 2018, with 81% turnout, 56.7% voted to stay with France and 43.3% voted for independence.<\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron\u00a0declared<\/a>\u00a0that New Caledonians had \u2018massively pronounced against acceding to full sovereignty and independence in a context of strong abstention\u2019. He said \u2018the majority of Caledonians\u2019 had \u2018freely decided\u2019 to stay within the Republic, making France the more \u2018beautiful\u2019. He said that the Noumea Accord had legally expired, and foreshadowed discussions to build a common destiny \u2018in this Indo-Pacific region in full reconstruction and subject to major tensions\u2019 and to face the challenges \u2018in this Pacific Ocean which is an integral part of our national space\u2019.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s overseas territories minister arrived in New Caledonia two days before the vote, and has made numerous public statements urging discussion<\/a>, if only on pressing health and financial matters.<\/p>\n

Local loyalists have\u00a0claimed their third victory<\/a>\u00a0and indicated that they would participate in discussions about the future, as the Noumea Accord specifies should occur after three \u2018no\u2019 votes on independence.<\/p>\n

Independence parties, united as never before in a strategy committee including trade unions and customary elders, reacted strongly. The committee\u00a0denied<\/a>\u00a0the validity of the vote, which it said was against the spirit and letter of the Noumea Accord, the decolonisation process and UN resolutions. It said independence parties wouldn\u2019t participate in discussions until after next year\u2019s French national elections. Party leader Rock Wamytan had presented their case for postponement to the UN just days before the vote and has since\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0the outcome as null and void. Another party leader, Charles Washetine,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0parties would contest the result in the region and internationally, would never discuss \u2018yet another agreement on a statute within the French Republic\u2019 and would proceed with their independence plan \u2018whatever it costs\u2019.<\/p>\n

Regional leaders have also reacted. The Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat in a communiqu\u00e9<\/a> described the vote as against Article 1 of the UN charter and UN resolution 1514 on self-determination, warned against imposing the result on the Kanak people, and called on the UN to engage with France and New Caledonia.<\/p>\n

The Pacific Islands Forum sent a ministerial committee to observe the vote but it didn\u2019t wait for its final report to comment. On 14 December, the committee issued a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0noting the significant non-participation and the importance of civic participation as an integral component of any democracy. It also said that the spirit in which the referendum was conducted \u2018weighs heavily\u2019 on the Noumea Accord and the self-determination process.<\/p>\n

The Australian government has remained markedly silent after this vote.* Immediately after each of the first two referendums, it issued a\u00a0statement<\/a> noting the vote and supporting the process.<\/p>\n

In New Caledonia, this referendum shows that divisions run more deeply than ever over independence and the territory\u2019s future. Things are at an impasse at least until after the French national elections next spring. As Macron indicated, the Noumea Accord has legally expired. France notionally set a deadline of June 2023 for a transition to whatever comes next, and wants discussions.<\/p>\n

Independence parties aren\u2019t in a hurry. Even though they lose the benefits inherent in vote-weighting provisions (restricting voter eligibility only to longstanding residents) that expire with the accord, indigenous Kanaks aren\u2019t going anywhere. While\u00a0official population figures<\/a> are fraught with issues relating to definitions of identity, the Kanak population has increased from 40% to at least 41% in the 10 years to 2019, while the European population has declined from 29% to 24%, and the territory has recorded\u00a0high rates of emigration<\/a>\u00a0since 2014.<\/p>\n

Violence can\u2019t be ruled out. It is less than 12 months since indigenous independence supporters\u00a0invaded<\/a>\u00a0the billion-dollar nickel plant in South Province, burning buildings and vehicles and throwing Molotov cocktails.<\/p>\n

More broadly, Pacific leaders will at the least be asking themselves whether France is serious in its efforts to be a responsible\u00a0Indo-Pacific partner<\/a> when it seems to be treating the critical final vote ending a 30-year process, so extensively boycotted by indigenous independence supporters, as showing massive support for France.<\/p>\n

* After the publication of this article, the Australian foreign minister issued a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Caledonia\u2019s third independence referendum under the 1998 Noumea Accord was held on 12 December as planned by France, over the opposition of the indigenous-based independence parties. Those parties had\u00a0called for non-participation\u00a0if the vote proceeded …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":69470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[291,958,921,2032],"class_list":["post-69465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-france","tag-independence","tag-new-caledonia","tag-referendum"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrance under Pacific scrutiny after New Caledonia referendum impasse | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/france-under-pacific-scrutiny-after-new-caledonia-referendum-impasse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"France under Pacific scrutiny after New Caledonia referendum impasse | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New Caledonia\u2019s third independence referendum under the 1998 Noumea Accord was held on 12 December as planned by France, over the opposition of the indigenous-based independence parties. 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