The president of New Caledonia's Southern Province Sonia Backes says the next provincial elections due in 2024 cannot be held with the current electoral roll.
Under the 1998 Noumea Accord, voting is restricted to indigenous Kanaks and long-term residents.
Backes who is a leading anti-independence politician, said this has to be changed because the provision in the Noumea Accord is only transitory and has now run its course.
Sonia Backes Photo: Facebook
After voters rejected full sovereignty in last December's referendum, Backes said she expects voting rights will be extended to all French citizens once they have lived in New Caledonia for six months.
The pro-independence camp is strongly opposed to any change, saying the rolls are in the Noumea Accord and an irreversible provision enshrined in the French constitution.
An estimated 40,000 residents don't have voting rights in provincial elections, but are allowed to take part in French parliamentary and presidential elections.
