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This weekend, residents of Polynesia and New Caledonia go to the polls to decide between the candidates still competing in the legislative elections. Mereana Reid-Arbelot, Nicole Sanquer, Emmanuel Tjibaou and Nicolas Metzdorf will sit at the Palais Bourbon alongside Moreani Frabault of Polynesia and Mikaele Seo of Wallis and Futuna, who were elected in the first round.
Kanak independent representatives in the National Assembly. This is the surprise of the second round of legislative elections. On Saturday, July 6, in Polynesia and Sunday, July 7, in New Caledonia, residents of the Pacific region went to the polls for the second time to elect the representatives who will represent them in the National Assembly.
But in both territories, for the four remaining constituencies – representatives of the First Polynesian Constituency and those of Wallis elected in the first round – voters will not be in a New Popular Front versus the National Rally. The choice will have to be made between the two symbolic parties of these territories: autonomists or secessionists in Polynesia, loyalists or secessionists in New Caledonia.
This has not happened since 1986. In the second constituency, the victory of independentist Emmanuel Tjibaou marked the victory on Sunday, July 7. The son of the iconic figure Jean-Marie Tjibaou, the Northern Province cultural director, is contesting the election for the first time. It is a winning bet since he won 57.01% of the vote against the loyalist Alcide Ponga and became president. New Caledonia’s first independent MP Since 1986.
The victory was all the more remarkable given that the second district was considered a long shot for independents in 1986, when Interior Department President Charles Pasqua drew the electoral gerrymander.
Instead, it was the loyalists who won the election in the first district. Outgoing second district representative Nicolas Metzdorf decided to run in the early election in the first district on the land of Renaissance representative Philippe Dunoyer. Payment strategy Royalist and assembly candidates received 52.41 percent of the vote, while independent candidate Omayra Naisseline received 47.59 percent, or 34,557 votes to 31,399.
This very close duel was very geographically divided. The candidate of the Independence and National Party once again led in the four island municipalities, especially in her hometown of Lifou. And Nicolas Metzdorf, president of the Générations NC, remained in first place in Nouméa with 72.62% of the votes.
Against the backdrop of the crisis that has prevailed since early May, the elections in New Caledonia were marked by a strong voter mobilization. The overall turnout in the archipelago was estimated at 71%. In the first round of voting, 60.02% of the population voted, compared to 32.5% in the first round two years ago.
In French Polynesia, voters decided to send two women to the National Assembly at the end of the second round of voting. In the second constituency, Nicole Sanquer of the autonomous party Amui Tatou won 55.87% of the vote (17,807 votes). The autonomist MP returns to the National Assembly seat after losing the 2022 legislative elections. Facing her is the independentist Steve Chailloux of Tavini Huiraatira, who received 14,120 votes (44.23%). Nicole Sanquer will be accompanied by her autonomous colleague Moreani Frabault, who defeated the outgoing independent representative in the first round of elections. Tematai Le Gayic.
In the third constituency, the Tavernier Independence Party won a seat at the Palais Bourbon. Mereana Reid-Arbelot received 17,308 votes (50.87%), while Pascale Haiti-Flosse of Amui Tatou received 16,716 votes (49.13%) and returned to office. After this defeat, Gaston Flosse’s wife said to Polynesia La 1ere: “I know I’m one of the separatists and I won’t come to the conquered territories. But that doesn’t scare me.”
Polynesians were more actively mobilized in the second round of legislative elections: nearly 49% (according to our estimates) of the population voted, compared to 43% in the first round. However, the participation rate was still lower than the 53.52% in the 2022 legislative elections.
Voters in Wallis and Futuna will not have to go to the polls again this weekend. From the first round, Mikaele Seo was elected with more than 62% of the votes, or 4,282 of the 9,031 registered voters in the region. As a reminder, he is the candidate for the majority of seats in the Territory Parliament.
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