New Caledonia's first round of the French National Assembly election has seen surprise advances of the pro-independence FLNKS whose two candidates both made it to Sunday's run-off round.
Four anti-independence parties in New Caledonia have joined forces as the territory prepares for a new statute after last year's rejection of independence from France.
The ethnic Wallisian party in New Caledonia's Congress, which holds the balance of power, has pulled out of its partnership with the pro-independence Caledonian Union.