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Sunday December 12 in New Caledonia, the inhabitants are called to vote for or against the independence of the archipelago. In duplex in Noumea on Saturday, journalist Hugo Capelli takes stock of the situation.
The third and last referendum on the independence of New Caledonia will be held on Sunday December 12. “The atmosphere is a little strange a few hours before the opening of the polling stations. Indeed, to secure the ballot in this archipelago very divided between pro and anti-independence, reinforcements were sent by the State.“, reports journalist Hugo Capelli, duplex in Nouméa, Saturday 11 December. In total, 1,650 gendarmes, 100 police officers and 250 soldiers, “with sometimes heavy equipment, such as helicopters“, have arrived in recent days.
A security device that “could be of no use“according to the journalist. He explains that the separatists asked their voters not to go to the polls.”They also appealed for calm, not to block the polling stations and not to express their discontent. This security climate is in any case experienced as a provocation by the independence camp, and the arrival of the Minister of Overseas Territories, Sébastien Lecornu, will not allow this political tension to be alleviated.“, says Hugo Capelli.