Polls Close After New Caledonia Independence Vote

Noumea, Oct 4 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Oct, 2020 ) :Polls closed Sunday in New Caledonia's independence referendum, with voters in the French South Pacific territory expected to reject breaking away from France after almost 170 years despite rising support for the move.

Enthusiasm was high and authorities said turnout was about 80 percent an hour before voting ended -- a full six points higher than in its first independence referendum held in 2018 -- leaving people to form long queues to cast their ballots.

"I waited 45 minutes. It's very important for me to vote," said retiree Germaine Le Demezet in the capital Noumea.

"I have children and grandchildren here, the future needs to be clear and we need to know what's going to happen to us." It will take several hours for the votes to be tallied and the result to be announced.

Sunday's referendum is part of a carefully negotiated de-colonisation plan agreed in 1998, which ended a deadly conflict between the mostly pro-independence indigenous Kanak population and the descendants of European settlers in the 1980s.

That violence culminated in a bloody, drawn-out hostage crisis in 1988 that saw 19 separatists killed on one side, and six police and special forces on the other.

New Caledonians voted against independence in the referendum two years ago, with "no" securing about 57 percent.

But the result marked a shift towards pro-independence sympathies, raising campaigners' hopes that this time it could manage to break free.

Political observers say voters are likely to reject independence again, although there have been no opinion polls to give guidance.

If the "no" vote does win, another referendum can be held by 2022 so long as the poll is requested by at least a third of the local legislature.

"Everyone knows there is going to be no change on Sunday," President Thierry Santa, who favours staying with France, told AFP.

The real issue was to know how much of a lead one side had over the other, he added.

- 'Future of our children' - Some in the tropical archipelago see staying with France as the only practical way forward, while others do not want to lose the chance of full independence.

"I made the choice a long time ago because we want to ensure the future of our children," said Carl Leclerc, a manager.

"This choice is 'No', it is simply to stay with France," he added.

But Pierre Gocho, a Kanak, said: "For me it is 'Yes' because we want our country in our hands and to go further than autonomy." New Caledonia has taken strict measures to keep coronavirus out of the territory, and with case numbers low, the referendum took place without masks and other measures.

New Caledonia, situated between Australia and Fiji and sometimes called "The Pebble", was seized by France in 1853 and is home to 270,000 people.

The economy's mainstays are the production of metals, especially nickel of which New Caledonia is a major global producer, as well as tourism and financial support from mainland France.

The French government, from more than 16,000 kilometres (10,000 miles) away, subsidises the territory with around 1.5 billion Euros ($1.75 billion) every year, the equivalent of more than 15 percent of New Caledonia's gross domestic product.

A special authorisation allowing the French national flag to be used in campaign spots angered the pro-independence Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), which accused the French government of taking sides against independence.

If New Caledonia votes for independence, France would, after a transition period, hand over control.

The last former colonies to gain independence from France were Djibouti in 1977 and Vanuatu in 1980.

Paris would also stop paying its yearly subsidy, a frightening prospect for the six remain parties that have formed a loyalist coalition.

"We cannot live without French money," said Gil Brial, the group's campaign director.

But Charles Washetine, spokesman for the Party of Kanak Liberation (Palika), said: "Our country is mature enough to be completely in charge of its own affairs."French Prime Minister Jean Castex, whose government must remain scrupulously neutral in the vote, has said he plans to talk to all the main actors in the aftermath of the poll.