New Caledonia's three anti-independence parties have been in talks to hammer out an arrangement on who should be in charge of the territorial government, the Congress and the government of the southern province.
This follows last Sunday's election in which the three jointly secured an overall majority in the territory's Congress and in the assembly of the southern province.
The northern and Loyalty Islands province retained their pro-independence majorities.
There has been no announcement on who the loyalist camp will pick to head the southern province when the new provincial assembly meets on Friday.
Photo: Province Sud
There is an expectation that the most successful party, the Caledonia Together, will opt to run the southern province, with the leadership of the Congress and the territorial government going to the two others.
None of the three parties is likely to strike a deal with the pro-independence camp for the territorial top positions.
For three years, Caledonia Together was sidelined because the other loyalists found an arrangement with the pro-independence camp to give it the Congress presidency.
