Last modified: 2006-12-02 by ivan sache
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Flag of the Congress - Image by Jaume Ollé, 28 March 2006
The Congress of New Caledonia is prescribed by the Organic Law of 19
March 1999 on the organization of New Caledonia. The
Congress is the merging of the Provincial Assemblies elected in the
North, South and Loyauté Islands Provinces. One of the main changes
prescribed by the Law is the possibility given to the Congress to vote
local laws (lois de pays). For instance, the prescription of a local
flag would be made via such a law.
The Congress succeeded to the former Territorial Assembly (Assemblée
territoriale).
Until 2004, the Congress was dominated by the traditional, loyalist
party RPCR (Rassemblement pour la Calédonie dans la République - close
to the former RPR, now UMP, Jacques Chirac's party) led by its
historical leader Jacques Lafleur. The RPCR ran the Southern Province
and the municipality of Nouméa.
For the elections held in 2004, members of Alliance, a conservative
party opposed to the RPCR, and dissidents of the RPCR formed a joint
list called Avenir ensemble (Future together). They unexpectedly won
the elections and transformed the list into a government party. The
main goal of the new party is to reconciliate all Caledonians and
consider more important issues than the independence.
Source: Rêve Calédonien website
Ivan Sache, 28 March 2006
The flag of the Congress of New Caledonia is hoisted, along with the
French national flag, in front of the Congress building in Nouméa. It
can be seen vert transiently on the flash animation shown on the home
page of the website of the Congress. As photographied there by Nozomi Karyasu, the flag is white with the emblem of the Congress.
The emblem of the Congress shows a conch with a French tricolor opening and a map of New Caledonia on the shell. The map shows the
three provinces represented in the Congress:
- dark blue: the North province, with the Belep islands
- light blue : the South province, with the Pines island
- yellow : the Loyauté islands (Ouvéa, Lifou, Tiga, Maré)
Ivan Sache, 28 March 2006