Noumea: Small gain for separatists

New Caledonian separatists have gained ground in parliamentary elections on Sunday but have fallen short of securing an absolute majority.

Supporters of independence won 25 of 54 seats in Congress – two more than in the last elections in 2009.

Parties that want to keep New Caledonia as part of France took the remaining 29 seats and will have a majority.

The territorial Congress will be formed out of three provincial assemblies, of which there are 87 seats.

The incoming Congress will get to set the date for a referendum on independence from France that could take place any time between now and 2018.

Unrest shook the islands in the mid-1980s as those seeking autonomy clashed with opponents. Seventy people are thought to have died.

The 1998 Noumea Accord, agreed between French “loyalists” and independence supporters drawn largely from the Melanesian Kanak community gave the nickel-rich Pacific territory of 265,000 increased autonomy and set a referendum for between this year and 2018 – making the outcome of Sunday’s vote all the more crucial.

Local politicians must agree a date for the vote, and if they fail to reach an agreement, Paris will organise it in 2018.

“The sovereignty of our country is moving forward,” said pro-independence deputy Roch Wamytan.

The new government will also have to wrestle with the country’s stagnant economy, poor public finances, tax reform, oversight of the mining industry and huge social and ethnic inequality.

Remittances from France account for 15 per cent of gross domestic product.

New Caledonia 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.

Despite these challenges, voter turnout fell to just under 70 per cent this year, down from 72 per cent in 2009.

A total of 17 parties were registered to contest Sunday’s election of the three provincial assemblies.