French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that "a period of transition" would begin for New Caledonia after voters overwhelmingly rejected independence, adding that "France is more beautiful" with the Pacific islands included.
"A period of transition is beginning. Free from the binary choice of 'Yes' or 'No', we must now build a common project, while recognising and respecting the dignity of everyone," the head of state said in a recorded message.
He said that the country could be "proud" of the process designed to settle the status of the islands under which residents were asked in three separate referendums if they wished to break away from France.
"Tonight France is more beautiful because New Caledonia has decided to stay part of it," Macron added.
With all ballots counted, 96.49% were against independence, while only 3.51% were in favour. But with turnout a mere 43.90%, the result is set to raise questions about the legitimacy of the process.
The archipelago of about 185,000 voters, 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) east of Australia, was granted three independence referendums under a 1988 deal aimed at easing tensions on the islands.
Having rejected a breakaway from France in 2018 and then again last year, the inhabitants were asked one last time: "Do you want New Caledonia to accede to full sovereignty and become independent?"
Pro-independence campaigners boycotted the vote, saying they wanted it postponed to September because "a fair campaign" was impossible with high coronavirus infection numbers.
The result could exacerbate ethnic tensions, with the poorer indigenous Kanak community generally favouring independence over the wealthier white community.
The main indigenous pro-independence movement, the FLNKS, had called the government's insistence on going ahead with the referendum "a declaration of war".
"This referendum does not make too much sense because half the population has decided not to vote," Cathy, a bookseller who gave only her first name, told AFP at a polling booth in the capital Noumea.
"I came out of civic-mindedness, what interests me is the society we are going to build afterwards," she told AFP.
Turnout was particularly low in Kanak-majority areas, AFP reporters witnessed.
Fears of Chinese influence
At stake in the vote was one of France's biggest overseas territories which is home to about 10 percent of the world's reserves of nickel, which is used to make stainless steel, batteries and mobile phones.
The territory is also a key part of France's claim of being a Pacific power, with New Caledonia granting France rights to the surrounding ocean, as well as a military staging post.
Experts suspect that an independent New Caledonia would move closer to Beijing, which has built up close economic links and political influence on other Pacific islands.
"If the French safeguard disappears, all elements would be in place for China to establish itself permanently in New Caledonia," said French international relations analyst Bastien Vandendyck.
Other nations in the region, including Fiji, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea, had already become "Chinese satellites", Vandendyck told AFP.
"All China needs now to complete its pearl necklace on Australia's doorstep is New Caledonia," he said.
China is already the biggest single client for New Caledonia's metal exports.
Fresh vote on future 'project'
Around 2,000 police and troops were deployed for Sunday's vote, which appeared to have passed off largely without incident except for an attempted roadblock on an outlying island.
France has 13 overseas territories, home to 2.7 million people, which are generally poorer and have higher unemployment than the mainland, leading to long-standing accusations of neglect.
Some such as French Polynesia have been granted large degrees of autonomy and attention will now turn to the future status of New Caledonia, whose regional council could be granted more powers.
Another referendum is expected by June 2023 which will decide on the "project" New Caledonia's people want to pursue.
The pro-independence movement has threatened not to recognise Sunday's result and has vowed to appeal to the United Nations to get it cancelled.
New Caledonia was largely spared during the pandemic's first phase, but have suffered close to 300 Covid-19 deaths since the Delta variant arrived.
Some observers fear the tensions could spark a return of the kind of violence last seen in the 1980s when clashes broke out between the pro-independence Kanaks and white French people who opposed independence.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
