1958 New Caledonian legislative election

Politics of New Caledonia
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Legislative elections were held in New Caledonia on 7 December 1958. The result was a victory for the Caledonian Union, which won 18 of the 30 seats.^[1]

Background[]

The 1957 elections, the first held under universal suffrage, had been won by the left-wing Caledonian Union, which subsequently formed a government led by .

On 18 June 1958 a protest march was led by right-wing opposition CNRS leader , who claimed elections held under universal suffrage were unfair and the new government was placing a financial burden on property owners.^[2] Over the next three days, armed members of the CNRS set up roadblocks and detained Assembly members. Supporters of Lenormand attempted to hold a demonstration in Nouméa on 21 June, but were banned from doing so by Governor .^[2]

Lenormand and his cabinet were subsequently dismissed by Grimald, who took on executive powers.^[2]

Electoral system[]

The 30 members of the Territorial Assembly were elected by open list proportional representation,^[3] the same electoral system as used in the 1957 elections.^[4]

Results[]

Voter turnout was around 73%, up 10 percentage points on the previous elections.^[1]

Elected members[]

Aftermath[]

Following the elections, Lenormand formed an eight-member government, offering two of the portfolios to the opposition.^[1]

After Henri Lafleur was elected to the French Senate in 1959, he was replaced by . When Rock Pidjot and were appointed as ministers, they were replaced by and .^[6] Dick Ukeiwé resigned from the Congress on 30 May 1961 and was replaced by who was next on the party's list.^[6]

Following the death of on 3 July 1961, he was replaced by Cidopua.^[6]

References[]