26 Jun 2007

FLNKS calls for committee to be set up on greater autonomy

10:25 am on 26 June 2007

New Caledonia's pro-independence FLNKS movement has called for a committee to be set up of the signatories of the 1998 Noumea Accord on greater autonomy.

This follows comments by the leader of the anti-independence politician, Pierre Frogier, who claimed that New Caledonia was French land and that it will stay that way.

The accord, which provides for a referendum on independence between 2014 and 2018, was signed by the FLNKS, the anti-independence RPCR and the French state.

The RPCR has fractured and lost much of its influence to a new anti-independence party, The Future Together.

An FLNKS member, Pascal Naouna, has told a news conference that a meeting needs to be convened with the newly elected French leaders to hear what kind of policy they plan to pursue.

Mr Nauona says during the election campaign, President Nicolas Sarkozy, said that he attached great importance on the respect of the Noumea Accord.