New Caledonia to vote on independence from France Sunday
Christian Fernsby ▼ | October 3, 2020
New Caledonia will have its second referendum on independence from France this Sunday amid expectation of a final showdown to come in two years.
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Topics: New Caledonia
The rhetoric of recent weeks however doesn't suggest that the status-quo will be upended just yet.
All along the campaign has involved a glance towards 2022 when a third and final referendum is likely to be called to wrap up a decolonisation process sought by the indigenous Kanak people.
Should voters again reject independence, it only takes a third of members of Congress to request the third and final plebiscite guaranteed under the terms of the 1998 Noumea Accord.
Yet anti-independence proponents already call for New Caledonia's formal re-integration into France under a new statute while Kanak leaders insist that independence can no longer be denied. ■
