New Caledonia once again rejects independence from France

A person chooses a ballot for the referendum on their independence from France held this Sunday in New Caledonia, an archipelago in the South Pacific.THEO ROUBY / AFP

The question had not changed.

"Do you want New Caledonia to gain full sovereignty and become independent?"

Two years after the first consultation on the independence process of this French archipelago in the Pacific, neither did the answer.

A majority of inhabitants in one of the last Gallic colonies voted this Sunday in favor of continuing to be French, although this decision does not completely settle the independence efforts: the agreements between Paris and Noumea provide for the possibility of a third and, this yes, the last consultation in 2022.

The no to independence prevailed again, this time by 53.3%, a weaker result than two years ago but still enough to maintain the

.

The result implies that New Caledonia, in French hands since 1853, will continue to be a Gallic territorial community, that is, a territory dependent on Paris, but with certain powers of its own.

In a brief and sober address from the Elysee, the president, Emmanuel Macron, expressed his "gratitude" after learning "the desire of the majority" for New Caledonia to remain in France, something that he interpreted as a "show of confidence in the Republic ”.

At the same time, he assured that he had "listened to the voice of those who are encouraged by the will for independence", who he assured that they will be part of the "construction of the New Caledonia of tomorrow."

The 304 voting centers to which 180,598 of the 271,400 inhabitants of this French territory of the South Pacific were summoned - located 18,000 kilometers from metropolitan France and 2,000 from Australia - closed at 6:00 p.m. local time, nine less in Paris.

The record of participation of the referendum of 2018 (85.4%) had made hold the breath on the result of this call.

Two years ago, the no to the independence of New Caledonia won by 56.7%, a sufficient margin, but not so forceful as to prevent the independentists from maintaining hope of a different result in a new consultation.

Despite having managed to close the gap, it was not enough to change the result the first time.

A territory of geostrategic importance

The two referendums held are part of the decolonization process that began in 1988 with the so-called Matignon agreements to put an end to the violent confrontations between the indigenous population, the Kanaks, and the Caldoches, of European origin, whose background was economic discrimination and politics of the original inhabitants.

Colonized in 1853 and originally used as a prison for French criminals, New Caledonia is on the UN list of 17 Non-Self-Determining Territories.

39% of its population is Kanak, 27% European or Caldoche, 8% is originally from the territory of Wallis and Futuna and another 8% mestizo and other national communities.

In order to participate in this Sunday's referendum, one had to be able to justify that they have resided in New Caledonia at least since December 31, 1994, be a native of the archipelago, or be of Kanak descent.

El

, as they are popularly called, already enjoys partial sovereignty: in fact, it is the territory of the Republic with the most competences - almost all of them, except those related to security and justice - and the only one with its own institutions with capacity to legislate.

Even so, the independentistas demand full independence, a path that was opened with the Matignon and Noumea agreements, signed a decade later, in 1998. These agreements provide, in the event that the no in the previous ones wins, the possibility of a third and final consultation, to be held in 2022, as long as it receives the approval of a third of the members of the New Caledonia Congress, who must present the request for a new referendum as of the sixth month after this scrutiny, in accordance with the rules established between the two parties and recalled this Sunday by Macron.

Beyond the symbolic value of one of the last French colonies, New Caledonia is of strategic interest and is also the fourth largest nickel reserve in the world.