In a televised address Friday evening, the Minister of Overseas Overseas Sébastien Lecornu explained that "the question of autonomy" was asked, "in hollow", by local elected officials themselves during discussions with the government to try to find a way out to mobilization, to multiple demands and punctuated by violence.

"According to them, Guadeloupe could better manage itself", and "they want less equality with the Hexagon, more freedom of decision by local elected officials", reported the minister, assuring that "the government is ready to talk about it (...), as long as these debates serve to resolve the real problems "of Guadeloupeans.

His remarks provoked an immediate volley of criticism from the right and the RN.

The candidate for the nomination of the Republicans for the presidential election Xavier Bertrand has castigated this proposal of "less state".

What is "at stake is the unity of the Nation", warned his competitor LR Michel Barnier, while for Éric Ciotti, also in the race for the nomination, "with Macron, the Republic gives way and recoils in the face of violence ".

The RN candidate Marine Le Pen accused the government of being "ready to let go of Guadeloupe" to "try to buy the radical separatists".

Others believe that he is mistaken in advancing an institutional response to a deeply social crisis.

This "creates confusion" and "does not solve social problems", said Yves Jégo (Agir), former Secretary of State for Overseas France, on LCI on Saturday, urging instead "a new deal economic "in the West Indies.

Xavier Bertrand, candidate for the nomination of the Republicans for the presidential election, on November 20, 2021 in Paris JULIEN DE ROSA AFP / Archives

"Responding to the crisis by tarmac announcements (during ministerial visits, Editor's note) which cost millions and which do not solve anything is not the solution", on the contrary argues a government source to AFP, citing "the precedents" of the crises of 2009 in the Antilles and 2017 in Guyana.

"Solidarity" state

Government and majority refute any suggestion of "abandonment" of the archipelago.

It is a question of "building an answer adapted to each one", because "each ultra-marine territory is singular", explained in a tweet Saturday the president LREM of the commission of the Laws of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, in saying "stop cartoons".

Victorin Lurel, socialist senator from Guadeloupe and ex-president of the regional council, did not hesitate on Wednesday in the Senate to demand "a political response", not just "material and financial".

Burned vehicles serve as a roadblock in Petit-Bourg, November 23, 2021 in Guadeloupe Christophe ARCHAMBAULT AFP / Archives

"The question of trust will have to be asked sooner or later to the elites and to the Guadeloupean people, that of wanting to live together: do you want, yes or no, to remain in the French as a whole. It will be necessary to remove the masks", had- he let go.

Sébastien Lecornu's comments raise the question of the degree of autonomy.

He was careful to mention only Guadeloupe, both a department and an overseas region, two institutions that overlap, which can complicate relations with Paris, and not Martinique, a unique territorial community since the 1st January 2016.

According to the government source, the government has in mind the statute of French Polynesia, with broad autonomy in accordance with article 74 of the Constitution, in particular in matters of health management, social protection and economic development, while relying on on local funding.

Polynesia has an Assembly: It votes laws and elects a president who makes up its government.

If the missions of the State are limited to the sovereign field (defense, security, justice, currency), such a model does not prevent it from "remaining united", underlines the government source, especially in the event of a crisis.

For the government, opening this debate could make it possible to place elected Guadeloupeans in front of their responsibilities.

Guadeloupe, Martinique: the stages of the crisis Julien NGUYEN DANG AFP

"It is also up to local elected officials to go to the end of the debates that they can initiate on issues such as autonomy", insisted the Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts Olivier Dussopt on Saturday on LCI, denying any attempt to win time in front of the demonstrators.

© 2021 AFP