The Palika, one of the main independence movements in New Caledonia, announced Thursday, December 23 that it has filed with other parties an appeal before the Council of State to contest the referendum of December 12 on the self-determination of the archipelago. French.
The spokesperson for the Kanak Liberation Party (Palika), Charles Washetine, announced that his movement and other independence parties united within the National Union for Independence (UNI) had lodged an appeal against the result of the third and last referendum provided for by the Nouméa accords of 1998.
“ The conditions of the organization of the poll altered the sincerity of the consultation, assured Charles Washetine. Still other requests should be made “in the days to come” “, Again before the Council of State, then before international bodies, according to him.
Citing a period of mourning due to the Covid-19 epidemic which has killed 280 people since September, mostly Kanaks, and the impossibility, according to them, of campaigning, the separatists had requested the postponement of the poll.
Free fall participation
Faced with the state’s refusal, they called for non-participation of their activists and sympathizers. On December 12, it was therefore the “no” to independence that won with 96.50% of the vote but with a participation in free fall (43.87% against 85.69% in the 2020 referendum. ).
The Palika also announced that it did not feel bound by the schedule provided by the Minister of Overseas Territories Sébastien Lecornu, which provides for a transition period started on December 13 that should lead to a project referendum in June 2023 which would specify the future status of the territory.
” Our horizon is May 2024 and the end of the congress mandate », Said Jean-Pierre Djaïwé (UNI-Palika). The day after the election, the separatists had already announced that they would refuse to discuss any new status other than independence and that these discussions could not take place before the presidential election in April 2022.
(With AFP)