The French government is proposing to open up the electorate to those who have been resident in New Caledonia for ten years.
For the time being, not all French citizens have the right to vote in New Caledonia. The right to vote in elections to Congress and the provincial assemblies is reserved for New Caledonian citizens. Non-independence supporters want the electorate to be open to all French citizens who have been resident in New Caledonia for ten years. The independentists are opposed to this. This is the central point of the negotiations between the independentists and the non-independents.
A local agreement is better…
However, the French government has accepted the principle of opening up the electorate. The text will then be examined by the national parliament. That said, “the priority of the French government remains the search for an agreement between the various players in New Caledonia”, emphasised government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot. If the elected representatives of New Caledonia agree on a text, it will be discussed and voted on by Parliament, otherwise the government of the President of the Republic will impose its own. It is therefore in the interests of all the elected representatives to reach agreement as quickly as possible…
