(MENAFN) The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), a pro-independence group in New Caledonia, opposed the postponement of the territory’s regional elections on Friday, urging Paris to proceed with the vote next month using the existing electoral roll, according to reports.

During a news conference in the capital, Noumea, FLNKS representatives voiced their rejection of plans to delay the elections. Members expressed their “disappointed” reaction to the French Senate’s recent approval of legislation that would push the vote to next year. The bill is slated for discussion next week in the lower house, the National Assembly.

FLNKS member Romuald Pidjot criticized the move, stating, “They are repeating the same mistakes,” and highlighted that prior delays and alterations to the voter list had already triggered unrest. “This led to the May 13 (2024) uprising, in which 15 people were killed,” he added.

The regional elections have already been postponed twice since last year. On July 12, representatives from New Caledonia and the French government signed the Bougival Agreement in the Paris suburb of the same name, creating a “special-status state within France.”

The 13-page accord stipulates that New Caledonia will remain “attached to France” while establishing a separate New Caledonian citizenship. Voting rights are granted to individuals born on the island or who have lived there continuously for at least 15 years. The agreement also calls for a referendum to ratify its terms and lays out a strategic framework for managing the island’s substantial nickel resources, largely controlled by French companies.

Situated nearly 17,000 kilometers (10,500 miles) from mainland France, New Caledonia experienced violent unrest in May 2024 after a French constitutional reform allowed long-term residents to vote, in conflict with the 1998 Noumea Accord that granted autonomy to the indigenous Kanak population. Pro-independence protests were suppressed by French security forces, resulting in more than 10 deaths.

Following the violence, the French government resumed talks with independence leaders, ultimately leading to the Bougival Agreement earlier this year.

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