ISTANBUL

Pro-independence leaders in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia on Wednesday rejected a deal with France to create a “state of New Caledonia” under a new constitutional status, broadcaster Nouvelle Caledonie reported.

The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) “formally rejects the draft Bougival agreement, due to its incompatibility with the foundations and achievements of our struggle,” Dominique Fochi, secretary general of the Caledonian Union and a member of the FLNKS political bureau, told a news conference in the capital Noumea.

Marie-Pierre Goyetche of the Labour Party, also part of the FLNKS political bureau, also rejected the plan, while FLNKS head Christian Tein denounced the plan proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron as “forced.”

“We haven't learned the lessons of what the country has been through. We can't build a country like this and put ourselves in a corner. It's humiliating for the Kanak people,” Tein said.

The agreement, signed on July 12 by political leaders in New Caledonia and the French government, would establish a state of New Caledonia in the French Constitution. It includes creating a Caledonian nationality, allowing residents to hold both Caledonian and French citizenship.

It also calls for forming a new provincial electoral body for those born in New Caledonia or who have lived there continuously for at least 15 years, and redistributing seats in the local Congress.

New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the South Pacific, has been under French rule since the 19th century. Calls for independence have persisted for decades, particularly among the Indigenous Kanak population, who have sought greater autonomy or full sovereignty.