A new movement advocating sovereignty is being formed in New Caledonia ahead of the October referendum on independence from France.
In the run-up to the referendum on the full sovereignty and independence of Kanaky-New Caledonia to be held on 4 November 2018 on the territory. Photo: AFP/ Julien Mattia/NurPhoto
Representatives of two minor parties agreed to hold a founding Congress on 19 September to create the Nationalist Movement for the Sovereignty of Kanaky, or MSNK.
The new movement includes the MNIS party as well as the Labour Party, which was linked to the USTKE union.
A MSNK spokesperson, Luther Voudjo, told the public broadcaster they would want to find a shared sovereignty after a 30-year decolonisation process which had become more hateful and devoid of a solution.
The Labour leader, Louis Kotra Uregei, said the pro-independence FLNKS movement had, over the years, drifted away from its original mission, likening it to a political cartel.
The new MSNK was being presented as an alternative to the FLNKS in advancing the nationalist cause.
Last month, the Labour Party urged its members to vote for independence after asking them to abstain in the 2018 plebiscite when the vote was described as an electoral farce.
In the first of three possible referendums in 2018, just under 57 percent voted for the status quo.
Should voters again reject independence this year, another referendum can be called by New Caledonia's Congress within two years.