Overview
- The Senate law committee took up the bill on February 18 and issued a favorable opinion, with a chamber debate scheduled for February 24.
- Without Socialist backing, an Assembly majority is doubtful and a mid‑April Congress once floated by parliamentary sources now appears unlikely.
- The government proposal would inscribe a Caledonian state in the French Constitution with its own nationality and progressively widen the provincial electorate.
- The FLNKS has rejected the Bougival and Elysée‑Oudinot accords underpinning the text, highlighting entrenched splits in New Caledonia.
- Provincial elections are due before the end of June unless changed, with non‑independence parties urging a delay and independence leaders pushing for a pre‑summer vote under the current roll, a stance now embraced by much of the left in Paris.