Seminar Series: Abstract

Elections in New Caledonia 2009: old faces, new coalitions on the path to independence
Nic Maclellan

On 10 May 2009, voters in New Caledonia go to the polls for elections to three provincial assemblies and the national Congress. The outcome of these elections will be crucial: members of this Congress, serving from 2009–14, will make key decisions about the future political status of the Pacific territory, with a referendum on political sovereignty scheduled to be held after 2014. Since the conflicts of the 1980s between the hegemonic anti-independence party RPCR and the Kanak independence movement FLNKS, many political parties and coalitions in New Caledonia have fractured. These elections will see competition between an array of parties, highlighted by infighting and division on the Right and the rise of a new pro-independence Labour Party. This seminar will discuss the contending forces in the election, the role of multi-party government in New Caledonia and key issues affecting the outcome (including reforms that have removed thousands of French voters from the electoral rolls, parity laws which guarantee places for women on electoral lists, and the attitude of first-time voters to the leaders who signed the 1998 Noumea Accord).