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Congress (Political assembly, New Caledonia)

Congrès

Flag of the Congress - Image by Jaume Ollé, 28 March 2006

Presentation of the Congress
Flag of the Congress

See also:

New Caledonia

Presentation of the Congress

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

Flag of the Congress

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