Parliament has definitively adopted the reform partially opening up the electoral roll for provincial elections in New Caledonia, just weeks before a vote that is particularly sensitive for the archipelago. The text, supported by the government, was approved by a large majority in the National Assembly after its passage through the Senate.
The reform notably includes the registration of approximately 10.500 native New Caledonians who were previously excluded from provincial voting. The government defends this measure as intended to correct the effects of the freeze on the electoral roll implemented after the 1998 Nouméa Accord, which limited participation in local elections to a portion of the population who had settled there before that date.
A reform that remains explosive in the archipelago
The question of the electoral roll remains one of the most sensitive issues in New Caledonian political life. The previous attempt at reform contributed to the violent riots of 2024, which resulted in several deaths and significant material damage across the territory.
The government, part of the right wing, and the Socialist Party supported the bill, while radical left-wing, Green, and Communist elected officials opposed it. The Minister and Prime Minister for Overseas Territories, Sébastien Lecornu, hailed it as a "small but decisive step" while announcing that the Constitutional Council would be consulted to ensure the reform's legal soundness before the provincial elections scheduled for June 28.
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