Independence referendum in New Caledonia 2021

This article describes a recent event . The information can therefore change quickly.

Emblem of New Caledonia

On December 12, 2021 , a referendum was held in New Caledonia , in which the voters had to decide on the question of whether New Caledonia should become its own state, independent of France . It was the third referendum on this topic since 2018. As before, the majority rejected independence.

prehistory

According to the Nouméa Agreement , signed in 1998, a maximum of three referendums were envisaged on New Caledonia's possible independence. The first two referendums were lost for those in favor of independence. In the first referendum on November 4, 2018 , 43.33% of the electorate voted for independence and in the second referendum on October 4, 2020 it was 46.74%.

On April 8, 2021, the two factions of the FLNKS's independence supporters , the Union nationale pour l'indépendance (UNI) and the Union calédonienne (UC), represented in the New Caledonian Congress ( Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie ), proposed that another Independence referendum should be held. According to the Nouméa Agreement, such a referendum had to be held if it was requested by at least a third of the MPs in Congress. Originally, UNI and UC had set a date in September 2022. Concerned that Marine Le Pen would win the French presidential election in April 2022 , UNI was considering setting the voting date as early as 2021. However, it seemed uncertain whether this could be realized in view of the COVID-19 pandemic .

The loyalists, ie the supporters of a state connection with France, for example from the Avenir en Confiance (AEC), rejected the referendum in principle because it divided New Caledonian society and did not advance it.

After one week of talks with independence supporters and loyalists, the French government set the date for the referendum on December 12, 2021. The French Minister for Overseas Territories, Sébastien Lecornu , said that "it is in the general interest to hold the referendum as soon as possible". Lecornu also announced that, depending on the outcome of the referendum, there would be a transition phase until June 30, 2023, during which either the connection between the French Republic and the new independent state would be clarified or the previous institutions of New Caledonia within the French state association would be revised would have to be. In February 2021, Lecornu had already warned of the consequences of unprepared independence, which would be "catastrophic". He also brought up a change in the status of New Caledonia if the New Caledonians would "confirm their wish to remain French for the third time". The UC, which was the only representative of the independence advocates to take part in the talks, however, stated that it did not feel bound by Lecornu's statements, as these had not been decided by consensus. On June 4, 2021, UNI rejected the decreed referendum date as too early and called for a referendum in September 2022.

The New Caledonian Congress voted on June 23, 2021, on a consultative basis on the government bill to hold the referendum on December 12, 2021. Of the 56 MPs, 28 voted in favor (including the loyalist MPs, but also the four MPs from L'Éveil océanien , a party of immigrants from Wallis and Futuna ). 14 MPs from UNI voted against and 12 abstained (mainly from UC).

On September 23, 2021, the commission responsible for organizing the referendum announced that the following groups had been admitted to the official election campaign:

• Groupement Union nationale pour l'indépendance
• Parti travailliste
• UC-FLNKS group with the nationalists
• L'Eveil océanien .
• Calédonie ensemble
• Voix du Non 1 , 2 and 3

The first four groups were in favor of independence, the last two were against.

Referendum question

The voting question is the same as for the 2018 and 2020 referenda:

«Voulez-vous que la Nouvelle-Calédonie accède à la pleine souveraineté et devienne indépendante? »

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

- Question of the referendum of December 12, 2021

Eligibility to vote

As with the previous two referendums, not all residents of New Caledonia who were eligible to vote in French presidential, parliamentary and European elections also had the right to vote in the referendum. The general electoral roll ( List électorale générale , LEG) contained 220,279 eligible voters, while the electoral roll for the referendum ( List électorale spéciale à la consultation , LESC) had 185,004 eligible voters. Around 35,000 people who were entitled to vote in general elections were therefore not allowed to vote in the referendum.

According to the provisions negotiated in the Nouméa Agreement, at least one of the following conditions had to be met in order to be admitted to the LESC:

• In the referendum of November 8, 1998, the voter must have been entitled to vote in principle. If he did not meet the residence requirements to participate in the vote at that time, he had to prove that his absence was due to family, professional or medical reasons.
• One parent had to be born in New Caledonia and have their center of life there.
• The voter had to be able to prove a continuous residence of 20 years in New Caledonia by December 31, 2014.
• The voter must have been born before January 1, 1989 and resided in New Caledonia from 1988 to 1998.
• If the voter was born after January 1, 1989, he or she must have at least one parent who met the conditions to participate in the November 8, 1998 referendum.

Overall, it was found that the number of people entitled to vote had increased noticeably since 2018:

	LESC Nov 4, 2018	LESC Oct 4, 2020	LESC Oct 5, 2021	Increase in 2018-2021	in percent 2018–2021
Province Sud	112,711	117,379	120,705	+7,994	+ 7.09%
Province North	040,048	041,349	042,132	+2,084	+ 5.20%
Province des îles	021,406	022,071	022,167	+761	+ 3.56%
total	174.165	180.799	185.004	+10,839	+ 6.22%

Voting result

A clear majority rejected independence. However, the participation of the population in the provinces "Nord" and "des îles" was very low.

	no	Yes	participation
Province Sud	96.9%	3.1%	60.9%
Province North	93.5%	6.5%	16.6%
Province des îles	85.6%	14.4%	4.5%
total	96.5%	3.5%	56.1%

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Alix Madec, Dave Waheo-Hnasson: Nouvelle-Calédonie: les indépendantistes demandent l'organization du troisième référendum d'autodétermination. In: Franceinfo . April 8, 2021, accessed September 23, 2021 (French). 
2. ^ Nouvelle-Calédonie: Les indépendantistes réclament l'organization du troisième référendum. In: 20 minutes . April 8, 2021, accessed September 23, 2021 (French). 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Nouvelle-Calédonie: le troisième référendum aura lieu le 12 decembre. In: Le Point . June 2, 2021, accessed September 23, 2021 (French). 
4. ^ Nouvelle-Calédonie: Sébastien Lecornu favorable à un nouveau statut en cas de non au référendum sur l'indépendance. In: 20 minutes . February 28, 2021, accessed September 23, 2021 (French). 
5. ^ Nouvelle-Calédonie: une partie des indépendantistes rejette la date du troisième référendum. In: Franceinfo. June 4, 2021, accessed September 23, 2021 (French). 
6. ↑ Louis Perin, Françoise Tromeur: Referendum 2021: avis du Congres favorable sur le projet de décret organisant le scrutin. In: Franceinfo. June 23, 2021, accessed September 23, 2021 (French). 
7. ↑ Françoise Tromeur: Referendum 2021: huit et partis politiques groupements pourront participer à la campagne officielle. In: Franceinfo. September 23, 2021, accessed September 23, 2021 (French). 
8. ↑ ^{a b} Clotilde Richalet: REFERENDUM 2021 - 185 004 électeurs inscrits sur la liste électorale. In: Le Petit Journal. October 8, 2021, accessed December 10, 2021 (French). 
9. ↑ La liste électorale spéciale consultation. Haut-commissariat de la République en Nouvelle-Calédonie, accessed on 10 December 2021 (in French). 
10. ↑ Référendum en Nouvelle-Calédonie: les résultats provisoires de ce 12 December 2021 francetvinfo.fr, 12 December 2021, accessed on 12 December 2021 (French)