Pacific

Lafleur says he will quit New Caledonia Congress seat

09:36 am on 6 April 2010

New Caledonia's veteran politician, Jacques Lafleur, is expected to resign from his Congress seat shortly.

In an interview with local radio, Mr Lafleur said he will certainly resign because he is on his own and alone he cannot achieve anything.

Mr Lafleur, who is 77, has been the territory's dominant political figure for the past 30 years and the anti-independence camp's leader until the 2004 election when his Rassemblement party lost power and gradually spilt into various factions.

He says the territory is heading towards new trouble because of selfishness and a lack of vision.

Mr Lafleur signed the 1998 Noumea Accord with the pro-independence FLNKS and the French state, setting out the phased and irreversible transfer of power from France to New Caledonia.