New Caledonia, Noumea, 2022-11-28. The Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories Gerald Darmanin and the Minister Delegate in charge of Overseas Territories Jean Francois Carenco lay a wreath in Place Bir Hakeim in Noumea during their first joint official visit to New Caledonia. Noumea, 2022-11-28. Photo: Clotilde Richalet / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
A group of French citizens in New Caledonia says it will go to court in France to secure voting rights in provincial elections for about 40,000 people excluded from the current roll.
The Association of French Citizens of New Caledonia says the restrictions imposed with the 1998 Noumea Accord must be lifted because full sovereignty was rejected in three referendums.
To take part in provincial elections, voters have had to be established in New Caledonia before 1998.
The eligibility to vote is a contentious issue as the pro-independence parties refuse to recognise the result of the 2021 referendum as the legitimate outcome of the decolonisation process.
The latest development comes after the French interior minister Gerald Darmanin visited the territory last week.
RNZ Pacific's Editor Koroi Hawkins spoke with senior RNZ Pacific journalist Walter Zweifel about Darmanin's announcement that pro-independent groups could be willing to agree to a compromise on partially opening up the roll.
