Six anti-independence parties in New Caledonia have launched a coalition ahead of October's independence referendum.
The group, who call themselves the loyalists, include the territory's president Thierry Santa, the president of Southern Province, Sonia Backes, and the right-wing National Rally.
Voters on New Caledonia's restricted roll line up in 2018 independence referendum Photo: RNZ Walter Zweifel
But it doesn't include the once-dominant anti-independence force, the Caledonia Together party.
At a launch ceremony, the group said they'll appeal to people's emotions - what they called the heart of New Caledonia.
The 2018 referendum was a narrow win for the anti-independence side - 57 percent - which triggered the process for this year's poll.
The referendum scheduled on 4 October is the second of three possible such votes under the terms of the Noumea Accord on New Caledonia's decolonisation.
Should voters again reject independence this year, the Congress can ask for a third referendum to be held withing two years.
Voting in the three referendums is restricted to indigenous Kanaks and long-term residents.
New Caledonia, which was seized by France in 1853, was returned onto the United Nations decolonisation list in 1986.
In 1987 a referendum on independence was held, when - amid a boycott by the Kanaks - more than 98 percent voted in favour of remaining French.
