The Kanak Socialist Liberation (french: link=no, Libération Kanak Socialiste, LKS) is a

Kanak The Kanak (French spelling until 1984: Canaque) are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. According to the 2019 census, the Kanak make up 41.2% of New Caledonia' ...

pro-independence and socialist political party in

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

History

The LKS was founded by a split in the

Party of Kanak Liberation The Party of Kanak Liberation (french: Parti de libération kanak, Palika) is a socialist pro-independence political party in New Caledonia. It is a component of the National Union for Independence, which in turn is one of the two components of ...

(Palika) in 1981. The most radical members of Palika, which had been the base of the party since its creation, walked out criticizing the Palika's increasing moderation and increasing links with the metropolitan

French Socialist Party The Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste , PS) is a French centre-left and social-democratic political party. It holds pro-European views. The PS was for decades the largest party of the "French Left" and used to be one of the two major p ...

(PS). Led by Nidoïsh Naisseline, a

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

, it also refused to support

Rock Pidjot Rock Pidjot (born November 8, 1907 in Mont-Dore, France - November 23, 1990) was a New Caledonian politician. He served in the National Assembly of France from 1964 until 1986; in that time he sat as a member of five parties, ending with the F ...

of the

Caledonian Union The Caledonian Union (, UC) is a pro-independence and the oldest political party in New Caledonia. In the latest legislative elections of May 10, 2009, the party won around 11.65% of the popular vote, and 9 out of 54 seats in the Territorial Co ...

in the 1981 elections. However, the LKS moderated and it did not participate in the

FLNKS The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (french: Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste, FLNKS) is a pro-independence alliance of political parties in New Caledonia. It was founded in 1984 at a congress of various politica ...

-led electoral boycotts in the 1980s. In the 1990s, the party even started co-operating with the anti-independence

Rally for Caledonia in the Republic The Rally (french: Le Rassemblement; until 2004 Rally for Caledonia in the Republic, french: Rassemblement pour une Calédonie dans la République; from 2004 to 2014 Rally–UMP) is a conservative political party in New Caledonia, strongly suppor ...

(RPCR) in the

Loyalty Islands The Loyalty Islands Province ( French ''Province des îles Loyauté'') is one of three administrative subdivisions of New Caledonia encompassing the Loyalty Island (french: Îles Loyauté) archipelago in the Pacific, which are located northeast of ...

. Thanks to this alliance, Nidoïsh Naisseline was president of the islands between 1995 and 1999. During this time, the LKS adopted a platform in favour of independence-association and started early negotiations with the loyalists while the FLNKS refused talks until a mining dispute in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

had been settled. The alliance with the RPCR ended in 2004, but the LKS has remained close to anti-independence parties, notably

Future Together Future Together (french: l'Avenir Ensemble, ) was a center-right political party in New Caledonia supporting the maintenance of political and administrative ties with France. The name ''l'Avenir Ensemble'' reflects the party's desire to unite Ne ...

. In fact, Christiane Gambey, a member of Future Together, is also a member of the LKS.

Platform

The LKS supports the

Nouméa Accord The Nouméa Accord of 1998 is a promise by the French Republic to grant increased political power to New Caledonia and its original population, the Kanaks, over a twenty-year transition period. It was signed 5 May 1998 by Lionel Jospin, and appr ...

but wishes to renegotiate certain parts of it, such as replacing the collegial government (which is in practice a perpetual

grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

between loyalists and nationalists) by a fixed government pulling its support from a fixed majority in Congress.

Electoral results

In the latest

legislative elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

of 9 May 2009, it won 1.92% of the popular vote, and 1 out of 54 seats in the

Congress of New Caledonia The Congress of New Caledonia (french: Congrès de la Nouvelle-Calédonie), a "territorial congress" (''congrès territorial'' or ''congrès du territoire''), is the legislature of New Caledonia. It has 54 members who serve five-year terms, sel ...

. It has two seats in the

References

Political parties in New Caledonia Secessionist organizations Separatism in France Socialist parties in New Caledonia Melanesian socialism {{NewCaledonia-stub