New Caledonia is pushing ahead with a referendum on independence from France this weekend, despite concerns that a boycott by pro-independence parties who oppose holding the poll amid the coronavirus pandemic risks an outbreak of violence, reports NBC News.
France's decision to hold the last of a series of three votes on Sunday, against the wishes of Indigenous Kanaks, has drawn condemnation in neighboring Pacific islands where sensitivities over colonization are high.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group, composed of Vanuatu, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and the major New Caledonian independence party, has called on Pacific island countries not to recognize the result.
The Noumea Accord of 1998, which set out a path for potential independence, agreed three referendums to determine the future of the country.
With the two previous polls, in 2018 and 2020, resulting in a narrowing of the "No" vote from 57 percent to 53 percent, Sunday's vote presents the last opportunity for the "Yes" campaign to achieve a simple majority.
Pro-independence groups have accused France of refusing to delay the vote until later in 2022, as allowed under the Accord, to reduce the chance of a "Yes" vote and to placate nationalists ahead of a French presidential election early next year.