Page 22 - IB December 2021

New Caledonia New Caledonia

leurs du Pacifique (CNTP), along with civil society groups in town of Hienghène, only 1.5% of registered voters went to the
the Front de Luttes Sociales (FLS), are also members. polls – last year it was 91.4%. In Canala, turnout fell from 91%
Grouped as the Les Voix du Non alliance (‘The Voices of in 2020 to just 1.37%.
No’), a number of conservative anti-independence parties Symbolically, not one person voted in the Kanak tribe of
sought to mobilise voters, especially in the Southern Province, Tiendanite, birthplace of the martyred FLNKS leader Jean-Ma-
to maintain New Caledonia within the French Republic. Before rie Tjibaou. Last year, there was a 100% Yes vote for indepen-
the poll, Thierry Santa, leader of the anti-independence party dence.
Rassemblement-Les Républicains told Islands Business: “Our Some commentators had predicted there would be clashes
objective - a very ambitious objective - is to maintain the between young Kanak and the “forces of order”, after more
same No vote that we obtained in 2020.” than 1,500 extra police, gendarmes and soldiers, backed by
Despite this, the No vote fell by 5,873 votes (from 81,503 in 30 armoured cars and helicopters, were brought from France
2020 to 75,720 in 2021), even though there were more voters in a provocative show of force. However the mood throughout
registered on the electoral roll this year. With overall partici- referendum day was peaceful and quiet across the islands.
pation plummeting in the North and Loyalty Islands, Les Voix The French High Commission in Noumea confirmed that there
du Non suggested that anti-independence supporters in Kanak were no incidents or disruption of voting at polling booths.
tribes were intimidated. However, 39% of the decline (2,257 As the CSI-NP noted: “The behaviour of our youth has been
votes) was in loyalist municipalities, with just 61% (3,616) in exemplary and up to the challenge. It demonstrates that they
districts with an independence majority. Even areas in greater are trustworthy in the face of provocation. The CSI instruc-
Noumea with a strong No vote - like Dumbea, Mont Dore and tions were complied with, even if everything has been done to
Paita - saw a significant drop in turnout. ensure that an incident occurred.”
CSI-NP scoffed at the claim of intimidation, noting “the No
vote retreated in all the polling stations. To justify this result Triumphalism on the Right
on pressure is an urban legend that no longer holds water Some anti-independence leaders have now issued triumpha-
today, due to the enormous French military presence on every list statements, praising voters who have said No to indepen-
street corner. The images of empty ballot boxes in the polling dence on three occasions under the 1998 Noumea Accord.
stations of some tribes are already circulating around the The night of the vote, President of the Southern Province
world.” Sonia Backès, leader of the anti-independence Les Républic-
ains calédoniennes (LRC), said: “Tomorrow the sun will rise
Non-participation, not boycott over French New Caledonia. Tonight, New Caledonia is finally
The CSI-NP decision to launch a “non-participation” cam- catching its breath. The Noumea Accord is finished and with it
paign (rather than an “active boycott” that would disrupt the exclusion of thousands of voters. We have decided in our
polling) was based on an understanding that many New Cale- heart and conscience to remain French!”
donians are tired of politics in the midst of a pandemic. Backès and other leaders of Les Voix du Non will now seek
There have been many votes over the last three years: the to roll back many of the achievements of the Noumea Accord.
November 2018 referendum; May 2019 provincial assembly Conservative politicians hope to open up the restricted elec-
and congressional elections; the October 2020 referendum; toral roll that limits on voting for local political institutions to
the collapse of the Santa government in February 2021; and New Caledonian citizens (and blocks the participation of tens
four months of negotiations to form a new government under of thousands of French nationals in votes for the provincial
pro-independence President, Louis Mapou. assemblies and national Congress).
With an economy disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, a Southern Province leaders also hope to revise the allocation
terrible surge of the Delta variant in September and October of revenues to the three provinces, cutting back funding to
devastated many families. Having avoided the worst of the the Northern Province and Loyalty Islands Province of that was
pandemic for 18 months, New Caledonia now has more than originally designed to make up for generations of underdevel-
12,300 cases and 280 deaths, with illness and mortality falling opment and lack of investment in the Kanak majority areas.
disproportionately on indigenous Kanak and Islander communi- Last June, Les Voix du Non welcomed France’s unilateral
ties. To add insult to injury, many people in rural areas spent decision to set the referendum date for December. They have
referendum day battening down the hatches as a tropical de- also welcomed the announcement by France’s Overseas Minis-
pression moved towards the islands, developing into Cyclone ter Sébastien Lecornu of an 18-month timetable to determine
Ruby - a stark reminder of the ongoing climate emergency. a new political statute to replace the Noumea Accord. Even
In this context, the decision to ignore the poll was cultural though Sunday’s vote was the last of three under this 1998
and social, as well as political. In Kanak majority areas, most framework agreement, the French government has proposed
voters just refused to attend. Less than 5% of registered vot- negotiations for a new statute, to be finalised by June 2023,
ers went to the polls across the Loyalty Islands and polling then put to popular referendum.
booths in many Kanak tribes had few, if any votes. The scale of the boycott, however, has thrown this time-
In pro-independence areas on the east coast of the main table up in the air, and even Overseas Minister Lecornu has
island, there were similar drops in turnout: in the northeast acknowledged that negotiations between the French state

22 Islands Business, December 2021