2023-09-27 05:35:58
After Gérald Darmanin in mid-September, Emmanuel Macron is in turn expected this Wednesday in Corsica for a two-day visit. In particular, he could take the opportunity to make announcements on the island’s autonomy that could be included in the Constitution.
The president will begin his visit with a “republican dinner” with local elected officials in Ajaccio, before a highly anticipated speech Thursday morning at the Corsican Assembly. In addition to this political component, it will pay tribute to the Corsicans who resisted on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the island in 1943.
The different vision of nationalists and the right-wing opposition
After the death in March 2022 of Yvan Colonna, attacked in Arles prison where he was serving a life sentence for the assassination of prefect Erignac, and the violent demonstrations which followed on the island, the government opened discussions that could “go as far as autonomy”. The presidential speech will therefore punctuate several months of these exchanges.
On July 5, the nationalists adopted an autonomy project pleading for legislative power in all areas except the sovereign, power which would be entrusted to the Corsican Assembly, where they occupy three-quarters of the seats. They also want Corsican resident status, co-officiality of the Corsican language and the inclusion of the notion of Corsican people in the Constitution. A second text from the right-wing minority opposition, which calls for a simple “power to adapt” French laws to Corsican specificities, was also sent to the president.
In an interview Monday at Corse-Matin, Bruno Retailleau, president of the Les Républicains group in the Senate, assured that the demands of the nationalists included impassable “red lines” and “that full legislative power” would go “too far”. However, the head of state will need a three-fifths majority, and therefore LR, in Congress to reform the Constitution. He therefore first demands a political agreement on the island, between the different nationalist groups and the right-wing opposition.
Macron maintains his red lines
If this is found, the president “will certainly say that he is ready to consider an institutional evolution in accordance with the republican framework”, notes an advisor to Emmanuel Macron. The Corsican right, however, puts this optimism into perspective. “There will be no agreement” between elected islanders, “unless there are agreements that escape me,” declared Jean-Martin Mondoloni, president of the right-wing opposition group, in reference to a possible agreement exclusively between nationalist groups which would certainly anger the right-wing Senate.
The red lines set by the president a year ago also remain unchanged: maintaining Corsica in the Republic and refusing to create two categories of citizens, particularly for priority to employment. If the co-officiality of the Corsican language is not admissible, this “does not exclude making an effort in terms of bilingualism”, concedes the Elysée.
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