2023-09-29 09:27:17
Coming to celebrate, Thursday, September 28, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Corsica, Emmanuel Macron used a word that none of his predecessors had resolved to use. Before the elected representatives of the Corsican Assembly, with a nationalist majority, the President of the Republic said he was in favor of a “autonomy” from the island “in the Republic”while warning that “this historic moment” will not happen « sans » or ” against ” the French state.
Even if a long and uncertain road remains to be covered before the island is recognized in the Constitution as a particular entity, the fact that the President of the Republic resolves to pose “autonomy” as the best possible option represents a important step in the tormented relations between the continent and Corsica. More broadly, this undermines the idea that the Republic can only live as one and indivisible. The movement is significant.
The change in the head of state did not happen spontaneously. On the contrary, it results from an about-face: for five years, Emmanuel Macron closed the door to all the political demands formulated by the island’s leaders, who demanded that the “political nature of the Corsican question”.
Also read the story: Article reserved for our subscribers In Corsica, Emmanuel Macron opens the door to autonomy
Its evolution took place under a double constraint: that of a new push by nationalists during the 2021 regional elections and that of yet another wave of violence triggered on the island in March 2022 by the death in prison of Yvan Colonna, who was serving his sentence for the murder of Prefect Erignac and was killed by a fellow inmate. The government then had to relaunch, in the worst conditions, a cycle of negotiations which could not have started without the promise of “autonomy” formulated by the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
Listening climate
The announcement is strong but the risk is calculated: Emmanuel Macron did not say clearly, on Thursday, whether Corsica would have normative power or a simple right of adaptation limited to certain areas. He was content to mark an intention and create a favorable listening climate by going as far as possible in the recognition of the Corsican language without admitting the co-officialization demanded on the island. For the rest, the ball is in the court of the elected officials: from the nationalists to the right, the groups which make up the Corsican Assembly have six months to try to reach an agreement. It is only under this condition that a constitutional revision project, requiring a three-fifths majority in Congress, will be initiated.
Given the strong differences between nationalists and autonomists and knowing the reluctance of the right to any approach to autonomy, success is not guaranteed. At least everyone is faced with their responsibilities at a time when the island is doing better economically but has serious problems to resolve linked to its insularity: rise in organized crime and drug trafficking; housing crisis particularly affecting young people; aging of the population making access to care problematic in a dispersed habitat…
By flattering the spirit of resistance of the Corsicans but emphasizing the concrete expectations of the population and the need for hope of young people, Emmanuel Macron put elected officials under pressure and tried to enlist the active forces behind him. It has also revealed itself to the eyes of the national representation, which will have to say in which form, Jacobin or Gironde, the Republic has the best chance of prospering in the years to come. Rarely have the conditions for development seemed so favorable. Corsican elected officials would be wrong to ignore the moment.
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