MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th November, 2018) The final voting results showed that 56.4 percent of New Caledonia residents who attended the independence referendum on Sunday opted to remain part of France, the Office of the High Commissioner said in a statement.
Preliminary referendum results showed that about 56.8 percent of residents of New Caledonia voted against the separation from France.
"Final results of the referendum in New Caledonia: 43.6 percent in favor [of separation], 56.4 percent against," the statement read.
French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier in the day that he was proud that New Caledonia had chosen to stay part of France.
With a population of some 260,000, New Caledonia has been under control of France since it was colonized in 1853. The indigenous Kanaks represent about 40 percent of its population. The archipelago, in its status of the French special collectivity with its own congress and government, enjoys rather large autonomy over domestic affairs, but the issues of defense, justice, education and foreign relations are managed by Paris.
In late 1980s, rising pro-independence sentiment led to violent clashes between pro-independence Kanaks and the Europeans who opposed independence. In 1988, the Matignon Accord proposed an end to direct French rule, while the 1998 Noumea accord paved the way for the steady devolution of powers as well as Sunday's referendum.
