Emmanuel Macron invited himself Friday morning to the resumption of discussions with Corsican elected officials on the institutional future of Corsica at the Ministry of the Interior, we learned from the Elysée.
The president indicated “that he had” no taboos “nor a “predetermined solution” on the institutional future of Corsica, and that he was ready to include any changes in his plan to reform the Constitution “after the summer”, reported the Élysée.
During the resumption of the discussions to which he invited himself at the Ministry of the Interior this Friday in Paris, the Head of State said he was open to all the solutions mentioned by the elected officials, from autonomy to the differentiation, however reiterating its two “red lines”, namely the maintenance of “Corsica in the Republic” and “the refusal to create two categories of citizens”, explained an adviser.
Nationalist proposals
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who has been organizing this flurry of talks for several months, said the government was waiting for proposals from “the nationalist majority” on the island.
These consultations, which must address the thorny question of a potential autonomy for Corsica, were officially launched in July 2022, four months after the deadly attack in prison of the independence activist Yvan Colonna. The death of this member of the commando condemned for the assassination in 1998 of the prefect Claude Érignac had sparked violent demonstrations on the island.
“Potential autonomy” possible
Gérald Darmanin then undertook to discuss the future of the island, until “potential autonomy”.
Discussions on the institutional future of Corsica have, however, been seized up to now around the repeated refusals to grant a semi-freedom regime to two other members of the commando, Alain Ferrandi and Pierre Alessandri, who have been released since 2017. Justice finally acceded to their request, a month ago for Pierre Alessandri and Thursday for Alain Ferrandi. Both were serving life sentences.
