A meeting took place at the Ministry of the Interior on Friday, relating to a possible autonomy of the island.
by Yves Bordenave (Ajaccio-Envoyé Special)
Suspended for five months, the cycle of discussions between Corsican representatives and the government relating to a possible new status of the island, resumed on Friday February 24 at the Ministry of the Interior, in Paris. The opening of this third meeting – the previous two took place on July 21 and September 16, 2022 – was marked by the presence of the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who took place around the table alongside the Minister of The interior Gérald Darmanin and the president of the island executive, Gilles Simeoni.
The head of state invited himself at the last moment. In Ajaccio, the rumor of his arrival was rushing Thursday, early in the afternoon, when the news of the granting of a semi-freedom for Alain Ferrandi, one of the assassins of the prefect Erignac sentenced to life, had just fallen. “There could be a surprise” whispered Mezza Voce, smile, Jean-Jacques Ciccolini, mayor of Cozzano (Corse-du-Sud), president of the association of mayors of Corse-du-Sud and Jean-Christophe Angelini , mayor of Porto-Vecchio (Corse-du-Sud), both members of the Delegation En route for Paris. It is therefore a restart with great fanfare for this process of discussion hitherto enclosed. It is also a sign of the importance that the President of the Republic gives him and a way of underlining his determination to see him go to his expected term before the end of 2023.
On the menu of this meeting which was to be shortened due to the obligations of the Minister of the Interior linked to the first anniversary of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the participants had to examine the specific statutes of the overseas territories of Polynesia And New Caledonia to establish a comparison with the Corsican model, before summarizing the land question in an island in the grip of speculative drifts which, more and more often, prevent young Corsicans from accessing housing.
“Put card on table”
For three weeks now, the Corsican-Paris link seems to be restored. After postponing three trips scheduled for the island between October 2022 and January, the Minister of the Interior had resolutely turned to the future on February 6. “It is time to inaugurate, together, the start of the continuation. Yes it is time to write a new page in the history of Corsica,” he launched, on the occasion of the 25-year commemoration of the assassination of the prefect Claude Erignac. Inviting his island interlocutors to “built peaceful peace”, he had mentioned the commitment of the President of the Republic.
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