New Caledonia's pro-independence parties say they won't respect the result of the independence referendum if France maintains December 12 as the date of the vote.
Last month, they called on Paris to postpone the plebiscite to the second half of 2022 because of the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, which has claimed more than 270 lives.
New Caledonians voting in last year's second referendum Photo: AFP or licensors
The parties said with a Kanak population in mourning, the situation isn't conducive to run a proper referendum campaign.
They say their decision to shun the referendum is irrevocable, having let pass last month's deadline to submit their official campaign material to the commission in charge of the referendum.
Their leaders say, if necessary, they will tell the international community that the French state wasn't keeping its word.
They say in 2019, the then French prime minister Edouard Philippe excluded the period from September 2021 to August 2022 for the referendum for it not to clash with next year's French presidential and legislative elections.
However, in June the overseas minister Sebastien Lecornu set the December date despite objections by the pro-independence parties.
Two previous referendums, in 2018 and 2020, were won by anti-independence supporters.