SYDNEY, Australia -- New Caledonia is moving ahead with a referendum on independence from France this weekend despite concerns that a boycott by pro-independence parties who oppose holding the election could lead to an outbreak of violence.
France's decision to hold the last of a series of three votes on Sunday against the wishes of Indigenous Kanaks has drawn condemnation in neighboring Pacific islands, where sensitivities over colonization are high.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group, which is composed of Vanuatu, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the major New Caledonian independence party, has called on Pacific island countries not to recognize the result.
Three referendums were set to be held to determine the future of the country, as a result of the 1998 Noumea Accord, which set out a path for potential independence.
Sunday's vote saw the No vote go from 57 percent to 53 percent, as the two previous polls resulted in a narrowing of the No vote.
Pro-independence groups have accused France of refusing to delay the vote until later in 2022, as allowed under the Accord, to reduce the chance of a Yes vote and to placate nationalists ahead of a French presidential election early next year.
Kanak leaders say the pandemic has prevented door-to- door campaigning in villages. They want to allow traditional mourning periods - about 300 people, mostly Kanak, have died of Covid since September 19 in a population of around 270,000.
New Caledonia's congress president, Roch Wamytan, a pro-independence leader who signed the peace accord, raised concerns on Thursday at a UN committee on decolonization.
On November 23, Meg Taylor, former secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, wrote to former leaders of Tuvalu, Kiribati, Palau and the Marshall Islands, warning of potential violence if the poll went ahead.
Election observers from the United Nations and Pacific Islands Forum have arrived in the capital, Noumea, as well as 2,000 police officers from France who are trying to maintain order.
The Noumea Accord was agreed to help end a decade of conflict that resulted in 80 deaths.
The acting director-general of the Melanesian group, George Hoa au, said the French were not good at anti-colonization. Hoa'au told Reuters in a telephone interview that they were not good at establishing egalitarian relations with former colonies. We must not allow this type of engagement with Indigenous people in the 21st century. Taylor told Reuters that decolonization was a priority for Pacific island nations. Will it be a legitimate process when people don't attend? A spokesman for France's Overseas Minister, Sebastien Lecornu, who is en route to New Caledonia, said the incidence rate of Covid 19 had been positively for a month. He said that the date of December 12 is not consensual, but it is the duty of the State to set it.
Lecornu said France would draw conclusions from this non-participation, which is a strong message sent by the pro-independence supporters, but this non-participation will not override or cancel the results of the three referendums. Lecornu said that he will try to find a dialogue with all parties the day after the referendum.
The leader of New Caledonia's Rassemblement party and former president, Thierry Santa, said that such dialogue is unlikely to happen until after the French presidential election in April. Santa linked France's decision with renewed attention in Paris on the Indo-Pacific, and anger that Australia dumped a major French submarine contract.
It is absolutely certain that the ripping up of the submarine contract by Australia and the United States has influenced France's attitude towards New Caledonia, Santa whose party is anti-independence, told Islandsbusiness.com.