Polling stations open for third independence referendum

The referendum for or against independence is therefore taking place this Sunday in New Caledonia. And this is no less than the third time that voters have gone to the polls to give their opinion on the self-determination of the archipelago. The 307 polling stations in this French territory in the Pacific opened at 7 a.m. (9 p.m. Saturday in Paris), but the separatists announced that they would not go to the polls. They invoke the impossibility of organizing “a fair campaign” in a context of health crisis.

At the town hall of Nouméa, place des cocotiers, about fifty people lined up when the polling station opened. Two police officers were also present. The authorities have in fact deployed an important security device, which is intended to be “reassuring” and “dissuasive”, of 2,000 gendarmes, police and soldiers.

A cyclone early warning

Voters have until 7 p.m. (9 a.m. in Paris) to come and say if they want New Caledonia “to achieve full sovereignty and become independent”. Sunday morning, 184,332 people were registered on the special electoral list for consultation (LESC).

In addition, a hurricane warning was triggered Sunday at 5 am by Civil Security. This weak tropical depression should gradually approach New Caledonia until Tuesday, strengthening. The sky was crystal clear on Sunday morning in Noumea.

The “No” twice already

In this archipelago 18,000 kilometers from Paris, French since 1853 and which represents one of the last bastions of European sovereignty in the area after Brexit, a first ballot on November 4, 2018 saw the pro-French win by 56, 7% of the votes. But the No to independence represented only 53.3% in the second referendum on October 4, 2020.

These referendums are part of a process of decolonization that began in 1988 after several years of violence between the Kanaks, the first people, and the Caldoches, of European origin. These clashes culminated in the taking of hostages and the assault on Ouvéa cave in May 1988 (25 dead).