New Caledonia is a French sui generis collectivity with a system of government based on parliamentarism and representative democracy.
Key areas such as taxation, labor law, health and hygiene and foreign trade are already in the hands of the Congress.
This measure has been criticized, because it creates a second-class status for French citizens living in New Caledonia who do not possess New Caledonian citizenship (because they settled in the territory only recently).
Finally, the territorial Congress is allowed to pass statutes that are contrary[further explanation needed] to French law in a certain number of areas.
The representative of the French central state in New Caledonia is the High Commissioner of the Republic (Haut-Commissaire de la République, locally known as "haussaire"), who is the head of civil services, and who sits in the government of the territory.
[3] The current president of the government elected by the Congress is Louis Mapou, from the pro-independence Palika political party.