An in-principle agreement for New Caledonia to form independence from France appears to be in tatters.

New Caledonia's-majority pro-independence coalition is rejecting the Bougival agreement – the French plan which was provisionally signed last month to give the Pacific territory its own nationality and some – but not full – powers over its own destiny and a proposed independence referendum.

Protesters waved flags of the Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front on Wednesday at a demonstration against the enlargement of the electorate for upcoming provincial elections next month in New Caledonia.

At a press conference held in Nouméa, Dominique Fochi, the Caledonian Union secretary-general, a senior figure within the Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front, said the movement's extraordinary congress had voted days earlier to reject the deal outright.

"We formally rejects the Bougival draft agreement because it is incompatible with the foundations and achievements of our struggle," Mr Fochi said.

Signed on July 12 under the guidance of the French Overseas Minister, Manuel Valls, the Bougival text outlines the transfer of limited sovereign powers including currency, justice and policing to a New Caledonian state.

The absence of a new independence referendum – a core demand for many Kanaky activists – has proved to be a deal-breaker.

"This is a blanket rejection," Marie-Pierre Goyetche, of New Caledonian Labour Party said, who is also on the Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front political bureau.

"We will not take part in the drafting committee proposed by the Minister for Overseas Territories."

Ms Goyetche has also urged the Front's supporters to resist any attempt by Paris to push the deal through.

"We are launching a peaceful appeal to our supporters to say stop to the state, if it intends to force this through," she said

Tensions over issues of independence between the French administration and Indigenous Kanaks still remain fresh.

In May of last year, protests against electoral changes and independence delays spiralled into violence, leaving 14 New Caledonia residents dead and causing several billion euros worth of damage.

New Caledonia, which was annexed by France in 1853, forms a legal collectivity of the French republic enshrined in a dedicated chapter of the country's constitution since 1946.

Mr Valls said on Sunday he intends to travel to New Caledonia next week amid an effort to salvage what he has called "a historic compromise, the result of months of work … with all delegations, including the Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front".

In a video link from prison in Mulhouse, France where he has been held for most of a year, Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front leader, Christian Tein, has since accused the French President, Emmanuel Macron, of forcing a flawed agreement.

"No lessons have been learned from what the country has endured," Mr Tein said in the video link.

"You can't build a country like this, pushing us into a corner.

"It's humiliating for the Kanak people."

Although Mr Tein was free to leave prison in June this year after being held in custody for more than a year, he remains barred from returning to New Caledonia while he remains under investigation over a separate charge of instigating last year's unrest on the Pacific island.

He has denied any role in inciting violence.

The Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front is calling for a new path towards sovereignty under its own Kanaky agreement.

The plan is to hold talks with the French government in September and to agree to a deal which would lead to full sovereignty of New Caledonia prior to the French presidential elections in 2027.

Any such talks, Mr Fochi has previously insisted, should be held only under the supervision of a free Mr Tein.

Despite rejecting the Bougival agreement, the Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front will still meet Mr Valls during his forthcoming trip.

Provincial assemblies historically wield most of New Caledonia's political power ahead of any vote.

But the Bougival agreement proposed delaying provincial polls again – this time until the middle of 2026 at the earliest – a move fiercely opposed by Kanaky separatists.

The recent accord struck in July has the backing of the entire non-independence bloc in addition with two moderate pro-independence parties – Palika and the Progressive Union of Melanesia – which both quit a Socialist Kanak National Liberation Front alliance 12 months ago.