The plan to hold the referendum on November 4 was supported by 38 lawmakers, 14 were against and two abstained, according to Nouvelles Caledoniennes newspaper.
The French authorities approved the referendum for New Caledonia in November last year. A new vote is possible because of the 1998 agreement, Noumea Accord, on the gradual decolonization of the archipelago.
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The 1987 independence vote resulted in local residents choosing to stay with France.
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