The Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS) candidate Emmanuel Tjibaou delivers a press conference in Dumbea, in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on July 3, 2024. Delphine Mayeur/AFP via Getty Images
New Caledonia’s oldest pro-independence political party, the Union Calédonienne (UC), has rejected a plan which would have seen a compromise to bring peace and stability to the troubled Pacific island nation, a territory of France since 1853.
It wasn’t until the early 20th century that local movements arose seeking greater autonomy, with some indigenous Kanak groups advocating for complete independence. The 1980s and 90s were periods of widespread violence and saw the assassination of Pierre Declercq, a leader of the UC and the formation of the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front), which proclaimed a provisional government, leading to clashes with French authorities.
