FRANCE and Corsica

Christopher Jones says: "I am always surprised when politicians of any political stripe show us just how desperately out of touch they are. Paris' relations with its rebellious island Corsica is a case in point. A July 6 referendum on the island resulted in a resounding defeat of the government sponsored autonomy plan and a high electoral turnout confirmed the Corsicans' repudiation of limited autonomy (a first in centralist France.) It was a personal defeat for interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, PM Raffarin and of course, President Jacques Chirac. Sarkozy admitted that the "non" victory was a grave setback but somehow I thought that the real winner was a man behind bars: Yvan Colonna. Just one day before, Colonna was snatched from his isolated stone cottage and whisked off to Paris to stand trial for the murder of Prefect Erignac -- Sarkozy gloated that there would be more arrests to come. But he didn't reckon with allot of uncomfortable questions: how could Colonna escape arrest for over 4 years if there was not some sort of official collusion? Colonna has insisted repeatedly that he did not kill Erignac -- if he didn't do it, who really killed the Prefet? All of this has implications for the Basques, the Catalans and the peaceful future of the nation in Europe".

RH The defeat of the autonomy plan was surprising and disappointing to the government, but not resounding. Most politicians are not out of touch. Their survival depends on their being in touch, and they have numerous polls to help them. Paris thought limited autonomy might put an end to acts of violence like the murder of Prefect Erignac. Now we shall see. The case for Corsican autonomy or even independence is stronger than for the Basque country or Catalonia. It is an island, distant and different from the French "hexagon".

Ronald Hilton - 7/12/03