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Status quo not possible, says French president on visit to Martinique
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| Published on Friday, June 26, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
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By Philippe Alfroy
FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (AFP) -- French president Nicolas Sarkozy affirmed on Thursday that the “status quo was not possible”, on his arrival in Martinique, before going on Friday to Guadeloupe, four months after the violent strikes that shook the two Caribbean islands.
“I am persuaded that the status quo is not possible,” declared Sarkozy, on his arrival in Fort-de-France, adding: “It is absolutely necessary to find a solution, to alleviate the issues, and to find an answer at the same time to the request for equality and identity. I will devote myself to it during these two days.”
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| French President Nicolas Sarkozy (C) arrives in Fort-de-France for a visit organised some four months after social conflicts and a long strike in protest against the high cost of living on the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. AFP PHOTO |
The president is accompanied by the new Minister of Interior Department, Brice Hortefeux, and Secretary of State to the Overseas Territories, Guadeloupe-born Marie-Luce Penchard.
Initially announced in April, Sarkozy’s Caribbean visit was delayed for a long time until a “return to a state of calm” in the two French islands.
With a question about the institutional future of Martinique and the Guadeloupe, Sarkozy answered: “One cannot manage a department in the middle of Caribbean like a department in the metropolis, it is obvious. At the same time, there are republican principles that should be respected.”
Elected officials of Martinique wish to defer the regional elections of 2010 for a possible referendum on autonomy.
“I will speak with all those who want to speak to me,” Sarkozy also said, when he was questioned on a possible meeting with Elie Domota, the leader of the residents’ collective in Guadeloupe LKP.
Even if the releasing by the State of a payment of 580 million euros on February 19 finally put an end to the general strikes that paralysed Martinique and Guadeloupe from January to March, the social unrest was not resolved then.
The president is awaited by the leaders of the dispute at the beginning of the year. The power station workers of Martinique (CDMT) issued a “mobilisation”, reproaching Sarkozy for his silence “relating to the gravity of our problems”.
As soon as he arrived, Sarkozy decorated about fifteen “dissidents”, from the West Indies who left their islands to join Free French during the Second World War. It is the first time that they have been honoured by France. | | | | Reads : 1261 | | | |
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