Legislative elections were held in New Caledonia on 11 May 2014. The result was a victory for the three anti-independence parties (

Caledonia Together Caledonia Together (french: Calédonie ensemble) is a political party in New Caledonia. The party was established on 14 October 2008 as a split from Future Together led by Philippe Gomès. The party is centrist and opposed to independence. Fu ...

, Front for Unity and Union for Caledonia in France), which together won 29 of the 54 seats (48.85% of the votes, 53.7% of the 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, s ...

Electoral system

Voters elected 87 members to the assemblies of the three provinces of New Caledonia. In turn, 54 also become members of the Congress. Voting was restricted to people on the Special Roll, which excluded people who moved to New Caledonia after 1988. A total of 17 parties registered to contest the elections.

Campaign

The main issue at stake in the elections was independence from France. The elected Congress would be responsible for taking decisions on moving towards independence, as agreed in 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 app ...

, and an

independence referendum An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence does not alwa ...

will be held during the term of this Congress if there is a three-fifths majority in favour of holding one. However, in the lead up to the elections, the pro-independence

Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front 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 ...

claimed that around 6,700 people on the Special Roll had moved to New Caledonia after 1988, and that 2,000 people who should have been on the Special Roll and were eligible to vote in the Territorial elections were not, the two figures equating to around 7% of registered voters.French magistrates to resolve New Caledonia electoral issues
Radio New Zealand International, 28 February 2014 In response, anti-independence groups claimed that 4,000

Kanaks 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 Caledo ...

should be removed from the electoral roll,New Caledonia Congress President Roch Wamytam raises electoral roll concerns ahead of independence moves
ABC, 28 February 2014 and that taking the issue to court would threaten a return to violence. A television debate was planned to discuss the electoral roll issue, but was cancelled at the last minute.Televised New Caledonia election debate cancelled
Radio New Zealand International, 11 April 2014 The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

sent a delegation to the territory in March 2014 to look into the controversy around the electoral lists, and to ensure that the Accords were upheld.UN sends mission to New Caledonia
Islands Business, April 2014 Although the French government approved the UN delegation, the anti-independence Union for New Caledonia within France and

opposed their presence.

Results

References

{{New Caledonian elections New Caledonia New Caledonia

Legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

Elections in New Caledonia New Caledonia