FLNKS supporters wave the Kanak flag of New Caledonia on the night of the second independence referendum in October 2020. Photo: AFP or licensors
New Caledonia's pro-independence Palika party says a ten-year residency to get voting rights in provincial elections was suggested in talks with the visiting French interior minister Gerald Darmanin.
A party spokesperson Jean-Pierre Djaiwe told La Premiere ten years in the territory seemed a reasonable period for those who want to become New Caledonians.
The FLNKS umbrella groups said after the meeting with the minister that discussing the issue was contingent on having an overarching decolonisation agreement with France.
Two days later, the Caledonian Union, which is the biggest pro-independence party, said no deal has been reached.
It warned the public against being influenced by what it calls misinformation orchestrated by the anti-independence side and certain media.
Interview from Nov 2021 - Palika party condemns France's insistence on Dec referendum
Darmanin has said the 2024 elections won't be held with the existing rolls.
They are part of the 1998 Noumea Accord, whose expiry is in dispute over the validity of the last referendum.
Paris wants to draw up a new statute after the rejection of full sovereignty in the 2021 referendum.
But the pro-independence parties refuse to recognise the verdict because only a small number of indigenous Kanaks voted.
While awaiting an opinion from the International Court of Justice, the pro-independence parties want to France to agree to a timetable for New Caledonia to regain its independence.