The question of New Caledonia regaining full sovereignty must be sorted by 2025, the territory's largest pro-independence party has said.
Caledonian Union Photo: supplied FB
Leaders of the Caledonian Union restated their stance after a party Congress, held in the aftermath of last December's referendum on independence from France.
In the third and last referendum under the 1998 Noumea Accord, just over 96 percent voted to remain French.
The plebiscite was however boycotted by the pro-independence side after it had unsuccessfully asked Paris to postpone the vote because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mainly indigenous Kanak population.
Before voting started, France was warned that the pro-independence parties would not recognise the result, describing it as illegitimate and one not reflecting the will of the people to be decolonised.
Since then, the Caledonian Union has also said that the gains made regarding decolonisation were irreversible and enshrined in the French constitution, and that they couldn't be rolled back.
For the party this means there is no room for opening the electoral rolls which restrict voting rights in provincial elections and in referendums to indigenous people and long-term residents.
While about 41,000 French residents were excluded from such voting, there has been a campaign to open the rolls.
The party has also ruled out allowing New Caledonia to be struck off the United Nations' decolonisation list, on which it was inscribed in 1986 amid a period of civil unrest.
It restated that it wouldn't engage in discussions with Paris on a new statute for the territory within France as proposed by the French overseas minister Sebastien Lecornu just days after the December referendum.
He said a referendum on the new statute should be held in June 2023.
However, the Caledonian Union insisted that any talks about the territory's future would have to wait until this year's French elections were over.
It added they would involve the French government only, and be solely about obtaining New Caledonia's sovereignty.
It said these negotiations would have to be held in New Caledonia.
The party also said it would want to approach the Pacific Awakening Party after its leader Milakulo Tukumuli last week ended its partnership with the Caledonian Union.
The leader of the Pacific Awakening Party Milakulo Tukumuli Photo: Facebook
Tukumuli took exception to remarks that the Wallisian and Futunians needed to understand that they had to side with the pro-independence camp, and that they were not above the issue.
He said he didn't want his party to be used as a tool in the rivalry between the pro-and anti-independence sides.
His decision deprived the pro-independence parties of the chance to muster a majority in Congress.
The Caledonian Union said it would try to have talks with Tukumuli informally.
With elections underway in France this month, there has been no response from Paris to the latest statements from the Caledonia Union.
However, in a campaign video last week, President Emmanuel Macron promised to engage with all sides for New Caledonia's future, given the territory had voted against independence three times.
