New Caledonia's pro-independence parties continue their push for France to return the territory its sovereignty by restricting the scope of the discussions planned by Paris.
In two weeks, the French interior and the overseas ministers, Gerald Darmanin and Jean-Francois Carenco, are due in Noumea after all pro-independence parties stayed away from the Paris meeting on New Caledonia chaired by the French prime minister Elisabeth Borne.
She said working groups would be set up to cover institutional questions as well as economic and social issues affecting New Caledonia.
Public finances are under stress and the players in the dominant nickel sector all face different challenges.
Daniel Goa (L) Photo: AFP
At the weekend, the pro-independence Caledonian Union, which is the largest party in the FLNKS movement, confirmed that it would not enter into any bilateral or tri-partite talks unless France agreed to a timetable for the territory's emancipation.
The party congress, which re-elected Daniel Goa as its president, said it would only negotiate finding a way to get full sovereignty.
Goa said as long as the French state did not initiate discussions on a full and complete transfer of sovereignty and did not irrevocably commit to a schedule to transfer the remaining powers, the party would have nothing to do with the discussions planned by Paris and supported by the anti-independence parties.
Elisabeth Borne Photo: AFP/GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT
He said New Caledonia's sovereignty was not negotiable, pointing out that independence was a condition for peace.
Last December, more than 96 percent voted against full sovereignty in the third and last referendum under the Noumea Accord, but the pro-independence side refuses to recognise the result as the legitimate outcome of the decolonisation process.
It had unsuccessfully asked for the vote to be deferred to this year because of the impact of the pandemic on the indigenous Kanak people.
With France refusing to change the date, the pro-independence side boycotted the vote and lowered the turnout to 43 percent.
Goa said the three 'no' results only implied the need for further discussions and didn't imply New Caledonia returned to France.
"In no case does the no mean the end of the decolonisation process", he said.
Another pro-independence party Palika also held its congress but reiterated that it would meet the visiting French ministers for bilateral talks.
However, it is not clear to what degree Palika will be engaging with the working groups being set up by the French government to chart the future of New Caledonia.
Palika leaders intended to go to Paris for the talks hosted by Borne last month but pulled out after other parties decided to stay away.
Palika has been proposing a new institutional arrangement with Paris, which would create partnership between New Caledonia and France.
Anti-independence parties condemned the positions taken by the two parties.
The anti-independence coalition, calling itself the Loyalists, said Goa remarks disqualified him a little more every day as a credible interlocutor.
The Loyalists said their rivals flouted not only the democracy shown by the referendums but also the word of those who signed the Matignon and Noumea Accords.
With the expiry of the Noumea Accord, a new arrangement has to be found.
Accord provisions enshrined in the French constitution remain, such as the restricted rolls used in provincial elections, which remains a key point of contention.
The anti-independence camp says restricted electoral rolls can no longer be justified after last December's vote as there are now 40,000 French residents lack full voting rights in New Caledonia.
Pro-independence leaders, however, insist that the rolls must not be touched because they form the bedrock of the New Caledonian citizenship and identity.