Deal on New Caledonia restricted electoral roll challenged

A New Caledonian group has spoken out against this month's deal reached in Paris defining the restricted electoral roll for next year's planned independence referendum.

The signatories to the Noumea Accord agreed to add another 11,000 names to the roll by including 7,000 indigenous Kanaks and 4,000 others born in New Caledonia.

However, the group of pro-independence supporters and nationalists, which had staged mass rallies to get all Kanaks automatically enrolled, says 12,000 Kanaks have been left out.

One of the group's leaders and head of the Labour Party, Louis Kotra Uregei, said there may yet be a call to boycott the referendum because of a lack of transparency.

While the French state has said the 12,000 people have no address and can therefore not be included, it refuses to release their names, citing privacy concerns.

Mr Kotra Uregei's stance contrasts the position of the main pro-independence parties which accept the outcome of the Paris talks.

Next week, the territory's Congress is due to approve the changes agreed in Paris.

In early December, the French prime minister Edouard Philippe is due in New Caledonia for a three-day visit during which preparations for the plebiscite are expected to be advanced.