why should we “unfreeze the electorate” before the next local elections?

The National Assembly examines on Monday the postponement of provincial elections in New Caledonia, initially scheduled for May. This postponement is necessary because it is first necessary to revise the Constitution to “unfreeze the electorate”.

Provincial elections in New Caledonia are crucial for local politics because they determine the balance of power between independentists and non-independentists. Initially, these elections were to take place in May, but they had to be postponed. They will be held no later than mid-December. During this election, the leaders of the three provinces are elected, but also the members of the Caledonian Congress, from which the local government composed of proportional representation will result. A government that has a lot of skills, outside of sovereign areas.

These local elections must be postponed because we must first revise the Constitution, to “unfreeze the electorate”. Indeed, not all residents of New Caledonia can currently vote in provincial elections. The existence of Caledonian citizenship means that only Kanaks can vote, as well as metropolitan residents settled on Caillou before 1998. This was part of the negotiations to bring peace after the violence of the 1980s in the archipelago. Concretely, a French person living in Nouméa since 1999, therefore for 25 years, cannot vote in local elections. Same thing for people born in New Caledonia whose parents were not settled there before this freezing of the electorate.

An over-representation of independentists

This phenomenon prevents around 20% of the New Caledonian population from voting in these local elections. Reported to mainland France, it is as if Île-de-France was excluded from an election. This situation has long been justified by its transitional side, the time for the Caledonians to decide on belonging to France. Recall that there have been three referendums to reject independence, the last one taking place in 2021.

Non-independence activists are therefore pressing to open the electoral body. They criticize this system for an over-representation of separatists in local authorities. Conversely, the separatists are hostile to this modification, which mechanically causes Kanak voters to lose weight. But according to the government, this restricted electoral body no longer corresponds “to democratic emergencies” of universal suffrage. The executive would therefore like to modify the Constitution, before July 1, so that all those who were born in New Caledonia or who have lived there for more than 10 years can vote in the provincial elections.