Legislative elections were held in New Caledonia on 11 September 1977.[1] Anti-autonomy parties won 19 of the 35 seats.[2]
A total of 495 candidates contested the elections, representing 19 parties.[3] For the first time, parties were allowed party political broadcasts on radio and television, with time allocated on the basis of seats held in the outgoing Assembly and local government.[3] The campaign was described by Pacific Islands Monthly as "exceptionally savage".[3]
Women were elected to the Assembly for the first time,[3] with Marie-Paule Serve and Edwige Antier winning seats.[1] Of the 35 elected members, 22 were new to the Assembly.[3]
Anti-autonomy parties (Rally for Caledonia, the Caledonian Liberal Movement, the New Caledonian Union, the Union for Caledonian Renewal, the All Ethnicity Union and the Democratic Union) won 19 seats; pro-independence parties (the Caledonian Union, the Party of Kanak Liberation and the United Front of Kanak Liberation) won 12 seats, with the remaining four held by pro-autonomy parties (the Caledonian Socialist Party and the Melanesian Progressive Union).[2]