New Caledonian authorities are preparing for Sunday's third and final independence referendum after rejected pleas by the pro-independence parties to postpone it to next year because of the pandemic.
France is proceeding with the vote despite pleas from the indigenous Kanaks and other countries in Melanesia for a postponement.
Pro-independence parties say they won't take part in the vote or recognise its result, as Walter Zweifel explains in this preview.
FLNKS supporters wave the Kanak flag of New Caledonia on the night of the second independence referendum in October 2020. Photo: AFP or licensors