Between Corsica and Paris, a breeze of optimism after the resumption of dialogue – Liberation

Is the time of misunderstandings and annoyances between Corsica and Paris fading away? Nothing is less sure. But the game of chess begins. Four months after the assassination of Corsican nationalist activist Yvan Colonna and the outbreak of violence on the island, dialogue has resumed between the executive and the island’s elected officials. An unprecedented cycle of discussions thus began on Thursday, during a meeting in Paris between the Minister of the Interior and around twenty Corsican elected officials.

For Jean-Louis Fabiani, professor of sociology at the Central European University in Vienna and author of a Sociology of Corsica (The Discovery, 2018), “We first attend the theatre. We are at the start of a game. This first meeting was essentially ceremonial.. However, the meeting was expected. Scheduled for early April, this first working meeting had been postponed because of the violence that occurred in Corsica after the death, on March 2, in Arles prison, of Yvan Colonna, attacked by an inmate. Faced with the conflagration of an island mourning “the shepherd of Cargèse”, the Minister of the Interior then went there to attempt mediation. And had dropped, in an attempt to calm people’s minds, the word of“autonomy”.

This Thursday, a roadmap was therefore set between the government and the 21 elected officials from the island invited to Paris. Among them were the president of the executive council of the Collectivity of Corsica, Gilles Simeoni, the president of the Assembly of Corsica, Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis, the eight representatives of the political groups of this Assembly, the six parliamentarians and the island MEP , the presidents of the associations of mayors of Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud as well as the mayors of Ajaccio and Bastia, Laurent Marcangeli and Pierre Savelli.

Facing them, Darmanin laid down a method and a timetable. “Every six weeks”, the tenant of Place Beauvau will travel to Corsica for a full day of thematic discussions. A first deadline has been set for September 16, when the “economic and social model” of the community. Then will come the issues of real estate speculation, identity, language, energy, youth, health, etc. A first stage point will be made at the end of the year. At each round of negotiations, the institutional question aimed at responding to the various problems will be raised, assures the Minister of the Interior.

In fine, the opportunity to reform the status of Corsica to move towards autonomy will be asked. This is where the difficulties arise. Because to go further in this evolution (namely the possibility for elected officials to intervene in the law), it would be necessary to go through a constitutional revision. The latter requires, among other things, the agreement of both chambers of Parliament. But the Senate, with a majority on the right, has always been reluctant to these institutional developments. “From there, we can’t prejudge anything.reacted Thursday Paul Quastana, elected from the Core in Fronte group in the Assembly of Corsica and historical militant of nationalism. We could very well work three or four years for not much. “Autonomy remains unclear. The principle is to go further. But in which directions?, also asks Jean-Louis Fabiani. The extent of any legislative prerogatives granted to Corsican elected officials should thus give rise to harsh negotiations.

During these months of negotiations which are opening, the Corsican nationalists will also put forward their historic demands: the recognition of the Corsican people, the co-official status of the language, the“amnesty” political prisoners or a residence status to fight against real estate speculation. “The government is open and ready for a dialogue without taboos”swears Darmanin in Corse-Matin this Friday. The government reiterated in passing its “two red lines”, “Corsica in the Republic and not two types of citizens on the same soil”.

Symbolically, this takeover by the Interior of the Corsican file is seen as a positive signal. During this resumption of dialogue, Darmanin was also pleased to have “kept his promises”namely to operate the rapprochement of the Corsican prisoners (a long-standing demand of the nationalists), and the handing over “next week” of the report of the General Inspectorate of Justice on the assassination of Yvan Colonna.

Faced with these gestures and at the end of Thursday’s meeting, Gilles Simeoni assured that “the bar has been set at the right level”. And the former lawyer to add to the microphone of France 3 Via Stella: “What is interesting in the method is that it makes it possible to link daily issues, the economic question, the social question, language, waste, sustainable development, ecological transition to the prospect of autonomy”. However, according to him, “the institutional question cannot be distinguished from economic, social and cultural questions”.

In the nationalist camp, which tried to display its unity before being received in Paris, certain voices became firmer. “Institutional evolution is not a possible option but the starting framework”, reacted Josepha Giacometti, the president of the Corsica Libera party, which was for a long time the showcase of the Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC), the clandestine independence group. At his side, the stiffer fringe of the nationalists, like the Core in Fronte party, will thus jostle to be heard. A first crack was observed in the ranks of the delegation and immediately «regrett [ée]» by Simeoni: the absence in Paris of Jean-Christophe Angelini, president of the Avanzemu group at the Corsican Assembly. “This is neither a gesture of defiance nor a manifestation of hostility.said the person concerned in a press release, but of an opposition to maneuvers tending, once again, towards hegemony [de la part de l’exécutif corse]».

It is on this rope that the executive could play. “Gérald Darmanin plays with the political plurality of political sensitivities” Corsican elected officials, argues the sociologist Jean-Louis Fabiani. In this role, his “Monsieur Corse”, the senior civil servant Grégory Canal, a sub-prefect with political ends, will play a key role. Gilles Simeoni, he knows that after the historic victory of the nationalists in 2015, the dynamic has run out of steam. Some Corsican citizens reproach him for his lack of political results. In a press release published on July 11, the FLNC claimed responsibility for 16 violent actions, mainly targeting second homes, and addressed strong criticism against the president of the Corsican executive. The three nationalist deputies elected in 2017 and their “political posturing” not having allowed “no tangible progress” were also targeted by the underground organization. If he is no longer the only privileged interlocutor in Paris, the son of Edmond Simeoni, the father of Corsican nationalism, nevertheless still has a solid political capital.

Finally, the subject of Corsican organized crime will be one of the sensitive points of the discussions. In Bastia, the Minister of the Interior announced this Friday “strengthening judicial resources” in Corsica, Marseille and the capital to fight serious crime. And this to prevent the island from becoming “a drug hub in the Mediterranean”. Between the lines, the tenant of Place Beauvau suggests with this argument a blind spot in the demand for autonomy. “One of the problems of self-governing islands is when there is organized crime. It’s necessary to be vigilant”he warns in Corse-Matin. If the great discretion of nationalist elected officials on the Mafia issue is often pointed out by their opponents, the Minister of the Interior will probably not hesitate to play this other card in future negotiations.

–