New Caledonia holds high-profile vote on independence from France New Independence

The French Pacific territory of New Caledonia is voting in the third and final referendum on independence from France.

But Sunday’s poll is being thwarted by a boycott by major pro-independence parties, which says the coronavirus pandemic is preventing a fair vote.

Turnout fell sharply in the previous two polls, with only 27.8% voting at noon (01:00 GMT), compared to 49.4% in the 2020 polls at the time, according to the island’s highest commission.

At the Candide-Koch polling station in the capital Noumea, a voter told the AFP news agency that “this referendum does not make much sense because half the population has decided not to vote.”

Cathy, who gave only her first and last name, told AFP she had come out of “civility.”

“What interests me is the society we will build later,” he added.

A territory of about 185,000 voters, 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) east of Australia, was given three independence referendums under a 1988 agreement to ease tensions on the islands.

After refusing to flee France in 2018, the population is being asked for the last time: “Do you want New Caledonia to adhere to full independence and independence?”

At stake is one of France’s largest overseas territories, with about 10 percent of the world’s nickel – used for stainless steel, batteries and mobile phones – and a key strategic asset for power in the Indo-Pacific competition between the West and China. .

“If France’s protection were to disappear, all elements would be in place for China to establish itself in New Caledonia forever,” said international relations analyst Bastien Vandendyck.

Other nations in the region, including Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, have already become “Chinese satellites,” Vandendyck told AFP.

“All that China needs to complete its pearl necklace on the Australian threshold is New Caledonia,” he said.

‘A mess’

Pro-independence campaigns are being boycotted, saying they want to postpone it to September because a “fair campaign” is not possible with a large number of coronavirus infections.

“I don’t want to go to the polls because I don’t agree with this latest poll,” Noumea resident Jean-Pierre Wadra said.

270,000 people in New Caledonia were largely rescued in the first phase of the pandemic, but about 300 people have been killed in COVID-19 since the Delta variant appeared.

The pro-independence movement has still threatened not to accept the result of the referendum and has promised to appeal to the United Nations to suspend it.

Authorities deployed 2,000 police and soldiers to the polls, which have so far passed without incident, according to the highest commission, even though police intervened in an attempted blockade on an outer island.

In any case, the polls are likely to spark controversy: “It’s going to be a mess in New Caledonia,” Wadra said.

Sebastien Lecornu, the French Minister for Overseas Territories, said the boycott would not change the “legal validity” of the referendum.

The vote comes on the back of increasingly close ties between Paris and its regional allies. France sees itself as a major player in the Indo-Pacific thanks to overseas territories such as New Caledonia.

President Emmanuel Macron stressed that the French state is not in favor of the referendum, but rather to ensure a fair and smooth procedure.

A recent debate between France and Australia over submarine contracts shows China’s growing role in the region, and experts suspect that an independent New Caledonia may be better suited to Beijing’s progress.

China is already the largest customer of metal exports to New Caledonia.

Surveys will close at 18:00 (05:00 GMT) and results are expected a few hours later.