On December 12, the third and last referendum on self-determination for New Caledonia took place in a particular health and social context.

Largely won by the "NO" to independence at 96.49%, the magnitude of the result is to be put into perspective compared to the participation rate (43.90%) which is in free fall compared to the two previous referendums that were won in November 2018 and October 2020 by the supporters of the "NO", with respectively 56.7% and 53.3% of the votes cast. This high abstention rate is explained a priori by the call for a boycott launched by the Kanak separatists like the president of the customary Senate, Yvon Kona, while calling for calm. Indeed, given the health situation in the archipelago due to covid-19, as well as the impossibility of practicing, as tradition requires, customary funeral acts, the Kanaks asked for the postponement of this last referendum, which was refused by the Council of State. For the French government, this abstention does not call into question the legitimacy of the election and it wishes to move to the next stage of normalization of the institutions of New Caledonia.This third and last referendum was to sign the end of a long and painful history for the entire New Caledonian population. This referendum was one of hope and reconciliation, the one that everyone was waiting for in order to be able to close the wounds still open of the past and still so vivid in the memories. Nevertheless, this third referendum was confiscated by the government:· confiscated, because of the conditions in which the latter took place and the high abstention rate following the call for a boycott by the separatists (who do not recognize the legitimacy of this election); confiscated since it does not allow the serenity and reconciliation so hoped for;· confiscated because it was flouted and is now contested. History has often shown us how resentments and frustrations due to the feelings of injustice of the past can resurface, further fracturing society. Faced with this, the EELV Overseas Commission hopes that the development of the new institutional project in New Caledonia will be carried out in the most inclusive consultation of each of the parties and calls on governments to do everything possible to resolve, as quickly and sustainably as possible, the inequalities that fragment the New Caledonian archipelago in order to hope to be able to give the chance of a true reconciliation. To consolidate the foundation of this society and allow it to reclaim its history, Kanak culture must now be truly taught and valued in addition to French culture. The Overseas Commission of EELV