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New Caledonia: a victory without jubilation for pro-French©
AFP
/ Theo Rouby
No blue-white-red parade on Sunday night in Nouméa: the supporters of maintaining New Caledonia in the French fold celebrated in a great discretion the victory of no, less wide than expected, in the referendum on independence .
One hour after the announcement of the final results – 56.4% of the vote for no and 43.6% for the oui-, around midnight in local time, the streets of Nouméa were deserted, as well as the beach district, usual place Caledonian popular gatherings.
Scenes in the image of a campaign that took place in peace, led only by a few car parades, flag in the wind, activists of both sides, in the days preceding this historic election.
The evening, however, was marked by a series of incidents, the most significant of which was the burning of a former pet store in the city center. "Two young people were arrested," said Thierry Lataste, High Commissioner of the Republic, without being able to confirm whether these arrests were related to the fire and the referendum itself.
In the popular northern districts of the Caledonian capital, several cars were also burned and "facts of peeling” have been reported, according to the High Commission.
In Saint-Louis, Kanak tribe at the gates of Nouméa, regularly the scene of violent incidents, young people tried to block the main road with burning tires, before an intervention of the police.
In the headquarters of the different political parties, the atmosphere was paradoxically more festive among the losers.
It must be said that all polls before the poll had predicted a large victory of the no in a range between 63 and 75% of the vote.
At the headquarters of the Caledonian Union, one of the two heavyweights of the FLNKS, activists expressed their joy by dancing and waving Kanak flags, shouting "Kanaky".
"The Kanak people at the rendezvous"
They then parade a procession of about twenty cars, with a lot of horns in Nouméa, even stopping at times to dance.
"We achieve a higher score than we thought, the Kanak people has been there, we are progressing everywhere, in all municipalities," said Louis Mapou, leader of the group Uni-FLNKS in Congress.
In the other camp, discretion was in order. After some applause and a Marseillaise, the party quickly came to a halt at the headquarters of the New Caledonian Republicans as well as the Rbademblement les Républicains, whose president Senator Pierre Frogier did not even speak at the end of the result.
Main non-independence party, Caledonia Ensemble (moderate right) had made an appointment with its activists in the bar of a large hotel. But there too, the heart was not really there.
"It is those who have lost who are celebrating," said Philippe Gomès, leader of the movement at 1:00 am in a deserted HQ, taken aback by the exceptional mobilization of the separatists.
In the days leading up to the election, he, who had led an intense field campaign, had predicted with certainty a non-independence victory with 70% of votes.
At his side, the MP Philippe Dunoyer considered a little disappointed, that "the victory of the FLNKS is its mobilization".
According to official figures, the referendum list had a minimum of 46% of Kanak. So with 43.6% of the votes, the indigenous people of New Caledonia almost filled the voices.
The participation rate in the referendum (80.63%) has been described as "http://www.lepoint.fr/" exceptional” by all actors. All day long queues were observed in several polling stations.
Especially in the Gustave Mouchet school in Nouméa, located in the popular district of Montravel, where the flags, caps, t-shirts and hats printed Kanaky colors (blue, red, green and yellow) were out.
"There are never so many people to vote here! I am convinced that independence is needed and it will be much tighter than polls predict," said Maria, the mother of three, children under a blazing sun.
05/11/2018 08:39:17 –
Nouméa (AFP) –
© 2018 AFP
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