“Tonight, France is more beautiful because New Caledonia has decided to stay there,” Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday after the victory of the no at independence in the third and last self-determination referendum. “New Caledonia will therefore remain French”, he underlined during a solemn address, specifying to welcome with “respect and humility” the result of this consultation, while “the electorate has remained deeply divided”, separatists having shunned the ballot box.
“A period of transition opens”
“France is proud to be your homeland (…) It is up to all of us to write our history with ambition and respect, a history that unambiguously remembers what it owes to the Kanaks, the first people, recognized by the agreement of Nouméa (…), a story which recognizes without pretense the contribution of the Caledonians who then arrived on the pebble to plunge their roots there (…) ”, developed the president.
“A period of transition opens which frees from the binary alternative between yes and no and should lead us to build a common project”, insisted the Head of State.