French President Emmanuel Macron has scheduled a regular meeting of the country's defense and national security council to discuss the situation in New Caledonia for Monday, French broadcaster BFMTV reported, citing the Elysee Palace.
On Thursday, French lawmakers approved a bill on voting rights in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia by a vote of 351-153, as protests continued in the region's capital, Noumea.
The controversial bill would lower the residency requirement for voting rights to 10 years for people living in New Caledonia.
New Caledonia, a territory of dozens of islands in the South Pacific, is considered a non-self-governing territory under the jurisdiction of its former colonizer, France, according to the United Nations. It's located 17,000 kilometers from France.
Pro-independence forces say it would dilute the share of the vote held by indigenous Kanak people that make up about 40% of the population.
As of today, only those who were on the electoral register during the 1998 Noumea Agreement, which gave the territory a higher degree of autonomy, along with their children, have the right to vote.