Election
1987 independence referendum
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 13 September 1987. Voters were given the choice of remaining part of France or becoming independent. The referendum was boycotted by independence movements. Only 1.7% voted in favour of independence.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “New Caledonian independence referendum, 1987”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
An independence referendum was held in New Caledonia on 13 September 1987. Voters were given the choice of remaining part of France or becoming independent. The referendum was boycotted by independence movements. Only 1.7% voted in favour of independence.
In 1983, the French Socialist government recognised Kanak rights to self-determination and agreed to hold a referendum on independence from France. By a vote of 325 to 249, the French Parliament passed a law on 15 April 1984 on holding an independence referendum in New Caledonia. There was controversy over voter eligibility as it could not be made a Kanak-only vote, as requested by the local independence movements, as that would violate the French Constitution's equality articles and the New Caledonian Front Indépendantiste's request eligibility be limited to only those with one parent born in the territory was also rejected. Under President Jacques Chirac, it was eventually decided that all French citizens who had lived on the territory for three years, would be eligible to vote.
Independence movements including the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front boycotted the referendum in protest at the franchise requirements, which made the indigenous population a minority. Although former French president François Mitterrand had promised short-term residents of the territory would not be able to vote, they were enfranchised for the referendum. As a result of claimed failures to respect the rights of the indigenous population, the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization did not send observers.
Voters were asked "Do you wish New Caledonia to remain in the French Republic, or do you wish it to become independent?"
Text from the Wikipedia article “1987 New Caledonian independence referendum”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.