The Nouméa Accord () of 1998 is a promise by the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to grant increased political power to

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

and its indigenous population, the Kanaks, over a twenty-year transition period. It was signed 5 May 1998 by Lionel Jospin, and approved in a referendum in New Caledonia on 8 November, with 72% voting in favour. Under the accord, three more referendum votes, on whether to remain a special collectivity of France or become an independent state, have been held. The first referendum was held in 2018, and the second was held in 2020. In both votes, a majority chose to remain French. The Nouméa Accord permitted a final referendum to be held, voted for by the Congress of New Caledonia. It was held December 2021 and widely rejected independence amid boycott by the independence movement. Named after New Caledonia's capital and largest city, the

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main i ...

Accord was the second accord, following the Matignon Agreements (1988). Under the Nouméa Accord, France continues to control the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

, and

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

. Under the conditions of the agreement, the

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of New Caledonia must be a pro-independence politician if the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

is held by an anti-independence politician.

Signatories

The following people signed the Nouméa Accord on 5 May 1998: * on behalf of the

: ** Lionel Jospin,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, the negotiations having been conducted on his behalf by his interior counselor Alain Christnacht, ** Jean-Jack Queyranne, secretary of state of Overseas Affairs to the Minister of the Interior, the negotiations having been conducted on his behalf by his chief of staff Thierry Lataste. * on behalf of the Rally for Caledonia in the Republic (RPCR, anti-independence party) : ** Jacques Lafleur, president of RPCR, President of the South Province Assembly and representative for the 1st electoral division of New Caledonia, ** Pierre Frogier, representative for the 2nd electoral division, 1st Vice President of the South Province Assembly and mayor of Mont-Dore, ** Simon Loueckhote, Senator from New Caledonia and elected from the Assembly of the Loyalty Islands Province and Congress of New Caledonia as well as being municipal councillor for Ouvéa, ** Harold Martin, President of the Territorial Congress, elected from the South Province Assembly and mayor of Païta, ** Jean Lèques, mayor of

, elected from the South Province Assembly and

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, ** Bernard Deladrière, Jacques Lafleur's chief of staff. * on behalf of the

Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (, FLNKS) is a pro-independence alliance of political parties in New Caledonia. It was founded in 1984 at a congress of various political parties. Its supporters are mostly from the Kanak indig ...

(FLNKS, pro-independence): ** Rock Wamytan, unitary president of FLNKS, member of the Caledonian Union (UC) part, Grand Chief of the Saint-Louis tribe and of the Pont-des-Français district, elected from the South Province Assembly and

, ** Paul Néaoutyine, chief of the Party of Kanak Liberation (Palika) and the National Union for Independence (UNI) elected from the North Province Assembly and

as well as mayor of Poindimié ** Charles Pidjot, member of the UC, nephew of former deputy Rock Pidjot, ** Victor Tutugoro, spokesman for the Melanesian Progressive Union (UPM)

Popular consultation

A popular consultation for approval was organized in

on Sunday, 8 November 1998.

Campaign

The local political class was divided on the question of the agreement. The following political figures and parties called for a "yes" vote: * Two main signatories: Jacques Lafleur's RPCR (which focuses on "at least 20 years of peace and stability" and a "future in the Republic") and Rock Wamytan's FLNKS (on behalf of the general interest of the country and future generations "), * Two independentist movements, of moderate tradition, represented in the institutions: the Socialist Kanak Liberation Party (LKS) of Nidoïsh Naisseline ("the future of our country is at stake") and the Federation of Committees Coordinating Independents (FCCI) of Raphaël Mapou, Leopold Jorédié and François Burck ("yes to the long march of the men and women of this country, the yes to our common history so that it does not stop"). * The mayors of Bourail and Dumbéa, respectively Jean-Pierre Aïfa and Bernard Marant, long-time opponents of the RPCR. * Delin Wema, a former Kanak RPCR executive in the North Province who became one of the leading figures in a new party, Developing Together to Build the Future (DECA),. * Thierry Valet and Jean-Claude Legras, two members of

from Une Nouvelle-Calédonie pour tous (UNCT, an organization created by dissidents from RPCR that subsequently became the principal opposition to Jacques Lafleur within the anti-independence camp) put themselves at odds with the official position of their movement (for them, the "Yes... reconciles at the same time the respect of the others, of their culture, their way of life and the necessary mobilization of all energies to develop the economy of New Caledonia to guarantee social progress and full employment"). The "no" side featured: * Two main moderate anti-independence parties in opposition to RPCR: Dider Leroux's UNCT, which saw agreement as paving the way for a " banana republic", reinforcing the hegemony of the RPCR over local political life and DECA, led by Koumac Mayor Robert Frouin, who presented the text as a "deceit" and a "Spanish farm where everyone finds what he wants to find" and highlighted the differences of interpretation between the interpretations of the RPCR and the FLNKS. * Right-wing RPCR members who opposed autonomy. Guy George's local section of the National Front (FN) as Guy George ("I urge you to refuse abandonment and vote no") and Claude Sarran's Movement for France (MPF) (denouncing a "collusion agreement" between "the socialist government to get rid of New Caledonia, the RPCR to extend its political-financial hegemony through transfers of powers and the FLNKS to satisfy its desire for independence"), as well as former RPCR Dick Ukeiwé, * FLNKS, Louis Kotra Uregi's Union syndicale des travailleurs kanaks et des exploités (USTKE), which wanted immediate independence.

Results

Source
Décision du 9 novembre 1998 proclamant les résultats de la consultation des populations de la Nouvelle-Calédonie du dimanche 8 novembre 1998

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noumea Accord Politics of New Caledonia Government of New Caledonia Treaties concluded in 1998 Treaties entered into force in 1998 Treaties of France Treaties of New Caledonia 1998 in New Caledonia May 1998 in Oceania 20th century in Nouméa