“We discussed the institutional future of the island. Gérald Darmanin initially remained vague. Traveling to Corsica for two days, the Minister of the Interior then gave more details about his lunch this Sunday with Gilles Simeoni, the autonomist president of the Corsican executive council.
The main topic of discussion? The institutional future of the island, “which the nationalist majority wanted to be called autonomy”, summed up Gérald Darmanin. The tenant of Place Beauvau said he was “awaiting proposals from Gilles Simeoni and his majority” on the question.
“I repeat, it is not the French state that wants autonomy but the majority today of the executive council (Corsica)”, insisted Gérald Darmanin, on the second day of a visit to Corsica which began on Saturday. in Calvi, recalling that the Corsican elected officials and the government were going to meet for a meeting on this file this Friday in Paris. Last March, Emmanuel Macron said that there should be no “taboo debates” on the term “autonomy”.
“A peaceful relationship”
This Sunday morning, at the town hall of Corte, Gilles Simeoni had praised the minister’s “state of mind”, seeing it as a “happy omen of the work and the meetings that await us and which will allow us to lead together Corsica towards a path which will be that of peace, emancipation and development, within the framework of a peaceful relationship”.
“We have important discussions (…), an important meeting will be held (Friday) in Paris”, had already underlined Gérald Darmanin this Saturday, in reference to his invitation launched to Gilles Simeoni and Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, the autonomist president of the Assembly of Corsica, to resume discussions on the future of the island. These discussions were interrupted in the fall due to tensions around the last members still in prison of the commando responsible for the assassination of the prefect Erignac in 1998 in Ajaccio.