The restive French Pacific territory of New Caledonia has elected a pro-independence indigenous Kanak candidate to France’s parliament – the first since 1986 – in a move that could change the dynamic of negotiations over independence after weeks of deadly unrest.
New Caledonia has two seats in France’s National Assembly.
Emmanuel Tjibaou, 48, won the second constituency in the rural north of the territory, beating loyalist candidate Alcide Ponga by 13,404 votes.
The first constituency, which includes the capital Noumea, was won by right-wing pro-France candidate Nicolas Metzdorf on 52.41 percent.
Metzdorf beat the pro-independence candidate Omayra Naisseline, although the margin was lower than expected.
Turnout on the archipelago was 71.35 percent – the highest in legislative elections since 1981.
Son of key independence leader
Tjibaou becomes the first pro-independence to win a seat in the national assembly since 1986.
While he is new to party politics, he has held several important positions in New Caledonia’s cultural sphere and directed the Agency for the Development of Kanak Culture – a public body set up to promote the culture of the territory's indigenous people.
He is the son of a well-known Kanak independence leader, Jean-Marie Tjibaou, who was assassinated in 1989.
Tjibaou's father had signed the 1988 Matignon Accords with mainland France, bringing a period of peace to the archipelago after four years of near civil war.
Tjibaou’s election could change the balance of power in discussions on the territory’s future which have been blocked since the third of three referendums on independence as part of the Matignon and then 1998 Noumea accords went in favour of remaining with France.
However, leaders of the Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front (FLNKS) refuse to recognise the results.
'Dramatic situation'
The election comes just weeks after deadly violence flared up in the capital Noumea and the surrounding region over plans by the government to make constitutional changes to voting lists, which Indigenous Kanaks feared would further marginalise them.
Nine people – including two police officers – died in the violence, hundreds were wounded and more than 1.5 billion euros of damage caused to shops and infrastructure.
While violence has subsided, a night-time curfew is in place through to 15 July.
Tjibaou’s brother Joël was charged and remanded in custody in June for his alleged role in the riots.
Speaking on public broadcaster NC la 1ère on Sunday, Tjibaou said he deplored the "dramatic situation" in New Caledonia and said there was now an urgent need to "restore the conditions" for renewed dialogue between pro-independence and pro-France parties", New Zealand's RNZ reported.
The constitutional reform needed to change the territory's electoral law has been de facto put on ice, after President Emmanuel dissolved parliament for the snap elections.
