3 Dec 2018

Goa retains Caledonian Union leadership

7:26 pm on 3 December 2018

New Caledonia's oldest pro-independence party has held its 49th Congress and retained Daniel Goa as its leader.

Caledonian Union holds Congress in Canala

Caledonian Union holds Congress in Canala Photo: FB FLNKS

The Caledonian Union met for the first time since last month's independence referendum in which just over 56 percent voted for the status quo.

The party hailed the defeat at the polls as a win because of the high turnout by above all young Kanak voters.

It said work needed to be done to get even more people to vote, in particular the Loyalty Islands, as by 2020 another independence referendum could be organised.

Before then there will be provincial elections in May which will determine the make-up of the Congress for the next five years.

Meanwhile another pro-independence party, the Palika, has restated that it is opposed to changing the electoral roll for provincial elections.

It said while it advocated the camp's common cause the pro-independence parties were likely to run several list of candidates.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs