The autonomist deputy Jean-Félix Acquaviva wants to launch this thorny debate within the framework of the process of negotiations with the State on the status of the island.
From our correspondent in Corsica, Julian Mattei
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LWill Corsica soon have its own police? The deal is far from over but the idea is gaining ground in the island’s public debate. “Security issues are not only the problem of the State, immediately displays Jean-Félix Acquaviva, autonomist deputy (Freedoms, independents, overseas and territories, Liot) of Haute-Corse. They also concern elected officials, a fortiori in a Corsican society which aims to take responsibility, including by exercising regulatory powers. This parliamentarian is at the origin of a proposal that is making noise on the island: the creation of a “territorial” police. In other words, a new kind of police force, neither national nor municipal, which would be placed under the responsibility of the executive council of Corsica – the “mini-government” of the region, led by the autonomist Gilles Simeoni.
We cannot constantly pass the ball back to the State on subjects which concern the life of the Corsicans.Jean-Felix Acquaviva
This idea is not the result of chance, even less a view of the mind in the nationalist camp. Jean-Félix Acquaviva, pillar of the simeonist majority, wants to open this thorny debate in the process of negotiations between the State and the elected islanders around a statute of autonomy. The deputy does not envisage, however, that this territorial entity replaces the national police; he prefers to speak of “complementarity”. “Corsica faces acute problems, such as the overcrowding of natural sites, prevention against fires or drug trafficking, without our having the means to act, he says. We cannot constantly pass the ball back to the State on these subjects which concern the life of the Corsicans. »
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An announcement effect before the debate on November 18?
The parliamentarian goes even further: by taking charge of “petty crime”, this territorial police would allow the State to concentrate its resources on the fight against organized crime and mafia excesses. If the proposal seems audacious, this “poker move” is the subject of many reservations on the island, especially since it occurs in a particular context. During a session scheduled for November 18, the Assembly of Corsica must debate the mafia influence that is plaguing the island society.
Once again, the nationalists are playing the instrumentalization card to try to install in public opinion the idea that Corsica would have all the trappings of an independent state.Jean Martin Mondoloni
In the ranks of the regional opposition, we do not hesitate to denounce an “announcement effect” and a desire to “bite” on the sovereign powers of the State. “Once again, the nationalists are playing the instrumentalization card to try to install in public opinion the idea that Corsica would have all the trappings of an independent state, mocks Jean-Martin Mondoloni, head of the opposition (DVD) in the regional hemicycle. This proposal illustrates a desire to drop anchor ever further by claiming skills that we probably do not have the means to exercise. »
Independentists divided
Within the independence current, usually inclined to claim more prerogatives, the proposal of the autonomist deputy is not unanimous. Far from there. “As long as our island is under French administration, the creation of a police force is not a topical issue, not to mention that there is no question of relieving the French State of its crushing responsibilities in the fight against organized crime, considers Jean-Baptiste Lucciardi, spokesman for the independence party Core in fronte. Corsica does not need measures masking the absence of a real project for the future, but expects more concrete answers from elected officials in terms of waste management, real estate speculation or cost of living. »
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Jean-Félix Acquaviva does not say the opposite. If this proposal already raises a number of questions, the deputy recognizes that the subject is not yet “ripe”. “This debate is only in its infancy, but it deserves to be posed calmly and with pragmatism, far from the clichés on independence, supports the parliamentarian. In the Mediterranean, several autonomous communities have their own police, such as the Balearic Islands, Catalonia or Sardinia. In the French West Indies, Saint-Martin has a territorial police. This is a legitimate question, it is intended to be addressed in the context of the transfer of skills for a status of autonomy. »