Legislative elections were held in

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

on 11 May 2014. The result was a victory for the three anti-independence parties (

Caledonia Together Caledonia Together () is a political party in New Caledonia. The party was established on 14 October 2008 as a split from Future Together led by Philippe Gomès. The party is centrist and opposed to independence. Future Together, a centrist pa ...

, Front for Unity and Union for Caledonia in France), which together won 29 of the 54 seats (48.85% of the votes, 53.7% of the seats) in the

Congress of New Caledonia The Congress of New Caledonia (), a "territorial congress" (''congrès territorial'' or ''congrès du territoire''), is the legislature of New Caledonia. The congress is headquartered at 1 Boulevard Vauban in downtown Noumea. Local media in Ne ...

Electoral system

Voters elected 87 members to the assemblies of the three provinces of New Caledonia. In turn, 54 also become members of the Congress. Voting was restricted to people on the Special Roll, which excluded people who moved to New Caledonia after 1988. A total of 17 parties registered to contest the elections.

Campaign

The main issue at stake in the elections was independence from France. The elected Congress would be responsible for taking decisions on moving towards independence, as agreed in the

Nouméa Accord The Nouméa Accord () of 1998 is a promise by the French Republic to grant increased political power to New Caledonia and its indigenous population, the Kanaks, over a twenty-year transition period. It was signed 5 May 1998 by Lionel Jospin, ...

, and an

independence referendum An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an Independence, independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independenc ...

will be held during the term of this Congress if there is a three-fifths majority in favour of holding one. However, in the lead up to the elections, the pro-independence

Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (, FLNKS) is a pro-independence alliance of political parties in New Caledonia. It was founded in 1984 at a congress of various political parties. Its supporters are mostly from the Kanak indig ...

claimed that around 6,700 people on the Special Roll had moved to New Caledonia after 1988, and that 2,000 people who should have been on the Special Roll and were eligible to vote in the Territorial elections were not, the two figures equating to around 7% of registered voters.French magistrates to resolve New Caledonia electoral issues
Radio New Zealand International, 28 February 2014 In response, anti-independence groups claimed that 4,000 Kanaks should be removed from the electoral roll,New Caledonia Congress President Roch Wamytam raises electoral roll concerns ahead of independence moves
ABC, 28 February 2014 and that taking the issue to court would threaten a return to violence. A television debate was planned to discuss the electoral roll issue, but was cancelled at the last minute.Televised New Caledonia election debate cancelled
Radio New Zealand International, 11 April 2014 The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

sent a delegation to the territory in March 2014 to look into the controversy around the electoral lists, and to ensure that the Accords were upheld.UN sends mission to New Caledonia
Islands Business, April 2014 Although the French government approved the UN delegation, the anti-independence Union for New Caledonia within France and

opposed their presence.

Results

By bloc

References

{{New Caledonian elections

Legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

Elections in New Caledonia