SYDNEY, June 28 (Reuters) – New Caledonia’s non-independence coalition won the most seats of any single grouping, 24 out of 54 available, preliminary results released by officials showed, in long-delayed provincial elections which were held amid tight security on Sunday.
The outcome of the elections, delayed since 2024 after New Caledonia was hit by violent unrest between indigenous Kanaks and French loyalists, is key in shaping future talks with France on the territory’s status.
The group of islands in the southwest Pacific, some 1,500 km (930 miles) east of Australia, has around 270,000 inhabitants, including 41% Melanesian Kanak and 24% of European origin, mostly French.
Three independence referendums, including the most recent in 2021, returned majorities in favour of remaining part of France.
Some 2,500 police were deployed to secure and monitor polling stations on election day, which began at 8 a.m. (2100 GMT Saturday), New Zealand public broadcaster RNZ reported.
Well before the start of voting on Sunday, voters had already begun queueing in a long line outside a polling place at Hotel de Ville in the capital Noumea, RNZ reported.
New Caledonia, named by British explorer Captain James Cook in 1774, was colonised by France in 1853 and became an overseas territory in 1946. The group of islands has witnessed a decades-long tussle over France’s role in its affairs.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; additional reporting by Makini Brice in Paris; Editing by Sonali Paul and Alexander Smith)
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