New Caledonia to hold vote on independence from France

APD NEWS

text

Voters in New Caledonia in the South Pacific will decide in November on whether they wish to become independent of France.

The overseas territory has seen years of bitter political feuding between independence advocates and those who are determined to remain part of the French Republic.

The legislature of the group of islands which have a population of about 270,000

voted on Monday to hold an independence referendum on November 4, AFP reported.

There were 38 votes in favor and 14 opposed at the public session in the capital Noumea.

Unrest shook New Caledonia in the mid-1980s with as many as 70 people thought to have been killed.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (L) listens to President of the Congress of New Caledonia, Thierry Santa delivering a speech during a visit to the congress on December 5, 2017, in Noumea.

An agreement was signed between France and New Caledonia in 1998 that promised greater autonomy for the archipelago and its indigenous Melanesian Kanak population.

Under the terms of that deal, an independence referendum needed to be held by the end of 2018.

New Caledonia currently holds a unique position as an overseas possession that formulates its own tax, labor laws and trade policy but not defense or foreign policy.

A woman casts her ballot n Noumea, New Caledonia on June 11, 2017, to choose members of the French National Assembly.

But many of the archipelago's inhabitants, particularly within the indigenous Kanak community, want full independence.

The territory boasts a quarter of the world's known resources of nickel, a core component in the manufacture of stainless steel, rechargeable batteries and coins.

But wealth is not evenly spread and backers of independence want major economic reform.

(AFP)