Referendum in New Caledonia 1998
On November 8, 1998 , a referendum was held in New Caledonia to approve the Nouméa Agreement . A majority of 72 percent of the voters accepted the agreement.
prehistory
The former French colony of New Caledonia had had the status of a French overseas territory since 1947 . This also included limited self-government. However, this regional autonomy hardly benefited the indigenous people of New Caledonia, the Kanaks , as they only formed a minority in the island territory due to massive immigration from Europe and other areas of Southeast Asia and Oceania. In fact, they remained largely excluded from political participation and also belonged to the economically disadvantaged part of the population. From the 1960s onwards there were increasingly militant actions by a Kanak independence movement against the French administration. In 1988, under the direction of the French government, the so-called Matignon Agreement was concluded, which provided for the holding of a referendum on the possible independence of the territory from France in 1998. In the decade 1988–1998, with financial support from the French state, measures to improve the social situation of the Kanak population were to take place.
In 1998 there were renewed negotiations between the various parties in New Caledonia - mainly the independence-striving FLNKS ( Kanak Socialist Front for National Liberation ) and the loyalist RPCR ( Le Rassemblement pour la Calédonie dans la France ) - moderated by the French government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin , which resulted in the Nouméa Agreement, which was signed by all negotiating partners on May 5, 1998. It was agreed to postpone the independence referendum. The decisive factor was that the FLNKS had strong doubts whether a majority for independence would come about in a referendum at this point in time. The time frame for the independence referendum was set between May 2014 and December 2018.
The agreement would then be submitted to voters in New Caledonia for a decision and November 8, 1998 was set as the voting date. Politically, New Caledonia was given further powers to the previous ones and New Caledonia received a special political status.
In the debates before the vote, the FKNKS and the RPCR spoke out in favor of the agreement. The groups UNCT ( Une Nouvelle-Calédonie pour tous ) and DECA ( Développer ensemble pour construire l'avenir ), as well as local branches of the Front National and the Mouvement pour la France, spoke out in favor of a rejection .
Voting question
The question put to the voters, to be answered with Oui or Non , was:
«Approvez-vous l'Accord sur la Nouvelle-Calédonie signed à Nouméa le 5 may 1998? »
"Do you agree to the New Caledonia Agreement signed in Nouméa on May 5, 1998?"
Results
The vote resulted in a clear majority of an average of 71.9% in favor of the agreement. The majority of the communities in New Caledonia approved the agreement. Approval was lowest in the capital, Nouméa, at 57.7%. 2.7% of the votes were invalid. The turnout was 74.23%.
local community | Eligible voters |
Voters | Valid | Yes | No | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
number | % | number | % | |||||
1 | Thio | 1554 | 1157 | 1135 | 1045 | 92.1 | 90 | 7.9 |
2 | Yate | 1124 | 861 | 857 | 827 | 96.5 | 30th | 3.5 |
3 | L'Île-des-Pins | 915 | 535 | 531 | 510 | 96.0 | 21st | 4.0 |
4th | Le Mont-Dore | 10,448 | 8556 | 8242 | 5463 | 66.3 | 2779 | 33.7 |
5 | Nouméa | 33,061 | 26,667 | 25,836 | 14,909 | 57.7 | 10,927 | 42.3 |
6th | Dumbéa | 6829 | 5568 | 5399 | 3178 | 58.9 | 2221 | 41.1 |
7th | Païta | 4661 | 3827 | 3662 | 2653 | 72.4 | 1009 | 27.6 |
8th | Bouloupari | 1235 | 994 | 969 | 677 | 69.9 | 292 | 30.1 |
9 | La Foa | 1819 | 1521 | 1480 | 1028 | 69.5 | 452 | 30.5 |
10 | Sarraméa | 372 | 290 | 277 | 230 | 83.0 | 47 | 17.0 |
11 | Farino | 319 | 277 | 271 | 150 | 55.4 | 121 | 44.6 |
12 | Moindou | 427 | 338 | 323 | 233 | 72.1 | 90 | 27.9 |
13 | Bourail | 2540 | 2095 | 2027 | 1218 | 60.1 | 809 | 39.9 |
14th | Poya | 1527 | 1191 | 1152 | 935 | 81.2 | 217 | 18.8 |
15th | Pouembout | 680 | 562 | 542 | 449 | 82.8 | 93 | 17.2 |
16 | Cone | 2316 | 1813 | 1782 | 1518 | 85.2 | 264 | 14.8 |
17th | Voh | 1481 | 1152 | 1123 | 937 | 83.4 | 186 | 16.6 |
18th | Kaala-Gomen | 938 | 641 | 630 | 514 | 81.6 | 116 | 18.4 |
19th | Koumac | 1543 | 1273 | 1241 | 654 | 52.7 | 587 | 47.3 |
20th | Poum | 751 | 515 | 514 | 435 | 84.6 | 79 | 15.4 |
21st | Belep Islands | 671 | 430 | 424 | 413 | 97.4 | 11 | 2.6 |
22nd | Ouégoa | 1388 | 986 | 975 | 792 | 81.2 | 183 | 18.8 |
23 | Pouébo | 1619 | 1030 | 1017 | 972 | 95.6 | 45 | 4.4 |
24 | Hienghène | 1495 | 1103 | 1096 | 1056 | 96.4 | 40 | 3.6 |
25th | Touho | 1405 | 1055 | 1033 | 946 | 91.6 | 87 | 8.4 |
26th | Poindimié | 2653 | 2054 | 2001 | 1802 | 90.1 | 199 | 9.9 |
27 | Ponérihouen | 1688 | 1267 | 1248 | 1137 | 91.1 | 111 | 8.9 |
28 | Houaïlou | 2501 | 1612 | 1579 | 1443 | 91.4 | 136 | 8.6 |
29 | Kouaoua | 834 | 647 | 631 | 573 | 90.8 | 58 | 9.2 |
30th | Canala | 2259 | 1589 | 1555 | 1500 | 96.5 | 55 | 3.5 |
31 | Ouvéa | 3294 | 1710 | 1698 | 1626 | 95.8 | 72 | 4.2 |
32 | Lifou | 7850 | 3436 | 3416 | 3238 | 94.8 | 178 | 5.2 |
33 | Maré | 4501 | 2450 | 2431 | 2339 | 96.2 | 92 | 3.8 |
New Caledonia as a whole | 106,698 | 79.202 | 77.097 | 55,400 | 71.9 | 21,697 | 28.1 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lorenz Gonschor: Decentralization or Decolonization? The evolution of the political status of the French overseas territories in the Pacific. Pacific Observatory, Dossier No. 62, June 2002, accessed April 14, 2018 (Review).
- ↑ Le référendum sur l'avenir institutionnel de la Nouvelle-Calédonie aura lieu le 8 novembre prochain. Les Echos, August 20, 1998, accessed April 14, 2018 (French).
- ^ French Senate (Ed.): PROJET DE LOI ORGANIQUE relatif à la consultation sur l'accession de la Nouvelle-Calédonie à la pleine souveraineté . April 7, 2015, CHAPITRE Ier - PRESENTATION DE LA SITUATION INSTITUTIONNELLE DE LA NOUVELLE-CALEDONIE (French).
- ↑ a b Décision du 9 novembre 1998 proclamant les résultats de la consultation des populations de la Nouvelle-Calédonie du dimanche 8 novembre 1998 . In: Journal officel de la République Française . November 10, 1998, p. 16959 (French, pdf ).