Referendum in Corsica in 2003

Location of Corsica within France with the regional division in 2003

On July 6, 2003, a referendum on administrative reform took place on the French island of Corsica . The draft law drawn up by the French government under Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin provided for a dismantling of administrative structures and greater self-government by the elected Corsica Assembly ( Assemblée de Corse ). The proposed reform was rejected by the voters with a very narrow majority of 50.98%. The turnout was 60.52%.

background

Jean-Pierre Raffarin (2013)

The conservative government under Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin , in office since May 2002 , had set itself the goal of further decentralizing the administrative structures of France. The first phase of decentralization began in 1982. Prime Minister Raffarin and his agile Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy now wanted to initiate a “second act” ( “acte II” ) of decentralization.

Corsica was directly affected by these projects. The decentralization law of March 2, 1982 gave the island the status of a collectivité territoriale (territorial authority) with an elected representative assembly (Assemblée de Corse) with 61 members. The powers of this assembly were initially limited to an advisory role. Later, the competencies were gradually extended to the areas of education, communication, culture, the environment and building regulations and the assembly (like the assemblies of the other French regions) received a budget right, but no legislative right.

From an administrative point of view, Corsica had formed a single Corse department with a prefecture in Bastia after the French Revolution in 1790 . In 1793 the department was divided into the two departments Golo and Liamone with prefectures in Bastia and Ajaccio . In 1811, however, the two departments were reunited. A renewed division took place with effect from May 15, 1975 in the today's Départements Haute-Corse ("Upper Corsica") and Corse-du-Sud ("South Corsica").

From the point of view of the Paris government, Corsica appeared backward economically. The island only had 260,196 inhabitants (just slightly more than the most populous of the 20 Parisian arrondissements ) and the gross domestic product of 18,147 euros per inhabitant was well below the French average (24,369 euros). The unemployment rate was 10.2% (French average: 9.2%). On the other hand, there were 92 civil servants for every 1,000 inhabitants of Corsica (French average: 72). Corsica gave the image of an economically underdeveloped and at the same time over-administered region.

The flag of Corsica, a common symbol of the Corsican nationalists

Until about the 1960s there had been no significant attempts at autonomy in Corsica. The traditionally very important family clans on the island had come to terms with French rule and the island benefited from the subsidies that regularly flowed from Paris. After the Algerian War, many French Algerians ( pied noirs ) flocked to the island, where they took over and re-established many wineries. The French government supported the new settlers with loans, the allocation of building land and land, without paying any significant attention to the local population. This preference led to considerable dissatisfaction among the autochthonous population. Regionalist Corsican organizations were formed, demanding greater self-government. This was accompanied by an increased interest in the Corsican language . On August 21, 1975, an armed group of Corsican nationalists from the Action Régionaliste Corse (ANC) under Edmond Simeoni occupied the gorge at Depeille near Aléria . The Paris government then sent several hundred police officers to Corsica who fought a gun battle with the occupiers, in which two people were killed. This “Aléria incident” marked the beginning of the armed autonomy movement in Corsica. Almost a year later, on 4th / 5th May 1976 the Frontu di Liberazione Naziunalista Corsu (FLNC) was founded, which has been conducting an underground armed struggle against representatives of the French state or French institutions with bomb attacks, assassinations and acts of sabotage. Later other nationalist groups emerged, some of which competed with one another. On February 6, 1998, the Prefect of the Corse-Sud department, Claude Érignac in Ajaccio, was the victim of an assassination attempt by Corsican nationalists.

Corsican regional reform project

Against the background outlined above, the Raffarin government decided to undertake a major reform of the Corsican institutions. According to the government's draft law, the previous three institutions, ie the two départements and the collectivité territoriale de Corse, should be replaced by a single regional body for Corsica with its seat in Ajaccio. The previous competencies of the three institutions should be transferred to the new regional authority. Their competencies should also be expanded. The new Assemblée de Corse should have 91 members elected by proportional representation. In order not to offend the supporters of the old administrative structures too much, the establishment of two district councils (conseils territoriaux) for the départements to be dissolved, which should have an advisory function, was also planned. This was linked to the two expectations that this should take the wind out of the sails of the Corsican separatists and nationalists and that on the other hand the administration should be streamlined and made more efficient by dismantling double structures.

On April 3, 2003, Prime Minister Raffarin announced that a referendum would be held in Corsica on the law on administrative reform and the new statute of autonomy.

Question of the referendum

«Approvez-vous the orientations proposées pour modifier the organization institutional de la Corse figurant en annexe de la loi n ° 2003-486 du 10 juin 2003? »

"Do you agree with the recommendations to amend the institutional organizations of Corsica as set out in Law 2003-486 of June 10, 2003?"

- Question from the referendum of 6 June 2003

Positions of the political parties

The voting recommendations of the main political parties and groups are summarized in the following table:

Political party	Choice recommendation
Parti communiste français	No
OUI à la Corse dans une République	Yes
Corse Nouvelle	Yes
Rassemblement Républicain pour le NON	No
UMP	Yes
La Corse en marche	Yes
UDF de Corse	No
Corsica Nazione	Yes
Union Républicains pour le NON	No
Corse Sociale Democrate	Yes
Mouvement pour la Corse	Yes

Two days before the referendum, Yvan Colonna , the alleged murderer of Prefect Claude Erignac, was arrested by French police. In general, the action was seen as a great success for Interior Minister Sarkozy. The effects of this spectacular action on the outcome of the referendum were assessed ambiguously. Some went so far as to suspect a political staging by Nicolas Sarkozy, which he decidedly rejected.

Results

Election results by cantons, departments and constituencies

Overall results

189,971 people were entitled to vote, of which 114,970 (60.52%) took part in the election. 112,170 votes (97.6%) were valid or evaluable (voting slip not empty).

area	voter turnout	Yes votes		Vote no
		number	%	number	%
CORSE-DU-SUD	60.22	25.182	49.94	25,238	50.06
HAUTE CORSE	60.77	29,808	48.27	31,942	51.73
CORSICA as a whole	60.52	54,990	49.02	57,180	50.98

Results by canton

The results in the 52 cantons of Corsica are listed below.

Canton	electoral legitimate	Voters	Valid votes	electoral participation	Yes (%)	No (%)
AJACCIO I	5984	3883	3794	64.89%	52.61%	47.39%
AJACCIO II	2197	1334	1298	60.72%	43.22%	56.78%
AJACCIO III	4017	2487	2409	61.91%	47.70%	52.30%
AJACCIO IV	3053	1721	1678	56.37%	47.38%	52.62%
AJACCIO V	3885	2189	2144	56.34%	44.08%	55.92%
AJACCIO VI	8714	4683	4537	53.74%	46.75%	53.25%
AJACCIO VII	8711	5182	5069	59.49%	43.72%	56.28%
ALTO-DI-CASACONI	2491	1574	1543	63.19%	44.39%	55.61%
BASTELICA	2350	1484	1450	63.15%	46.97%	53.03%
BASTIA I CENTER	3105	2045	1995	65.86%	36.99%	63.01%
BASTIA II	4826	3207	3127	66.45%	31.28%	68.72%
BASTIA III	1417	874	853	61.68%	34.23%	65.77%
BASTIA IV	1103	692	674	62.74%	29.38%	70.62%
BASTIA V	4278	2406	2368	56.24%	22.85%	77.15%
BASTIA VI	6899	4198	4144	60.85%	22.03%	77.97%
BELGODÈRE	3193	1814	1752	56.81%	57.25%	42.75%
BONIFACIO	1934	1006	957	52.02%	51.10%	48.90%
BORGO	8828	5240	5157	59.36%	66.01%	33.99%
BUSTANICO	2396	1456	1411	60.77%	58.47%	41.53%
CALENZANA	4201	1459	1419	34.73%	60.61%	39.39%
CALVI	3832	2425	2373	63.28%	62.92%	37.08%
CAMPOLORO-DI-MORIANI	4388	2541	2493	57.91%	58.97%	41.03%
CAPOBIANCO	2617	1759	1703	67.21%	49.38%	50.62%
CASTIFAO-MOROSAGLIA	2918	1878	1832	64.36%	51.75%	48.25%
CELAVO MEZZANA	5555	3275	3176	58.96%	46.85%	53.15%
CONCA-D'ORO	3476	2207	2143	63.49%	40.41%	59.59%
CORTE	3436	2211	2129	64.35%	57.59%	42.41%
CRUZINI-CINARCA	2194	1414	1372	64.45%	52.33%	47.67%
DEUX-SEVI	2514	1608	1579	63.96%	49.72%	50.28%
DEUX-SORRU	2906	1783	1742	61.36%	62.00%	38.00%
FIGARI	2616	1582	1549	60.47%	45.45%	54.55%
FIUMALTO-D'AMPUGNANI	3077	1777	1747	57.75%	52.95%	47.05%
GHISONI	2821	1520	1482	53.88%	51.48%	48.52%
SKIN NEBBIO	2447	1558	1517	63.67%	34.67%	65.33%
ÎLE-ROUSSE	4355	2431	2379	55.82%	52.84%	47.16%
LEVIE	2728	1642	1590	60.19%	46.67%	53.33%
MOITA-VERDE	3316	1791	1748	54.01%	57.32%	42.68%
NIOLU-OMESSA	2938	1645	1617	55.99%	51.52%	48.48%
OLMETO	3582	2210	2148	61.70%	48.18%	51.82%
OREZZA-ALESANI	1680	1152	1127	68.57%	69.57%	30.43%
PETRETO-BICCHISANO	1762	1133	1096	64.30%	49.45%	50.55%
PORTO-VECCHIO	8471	4630	4512	54.66%	60.33%	39.67%
PRUNELLI-DI-FIUMORBO	4988	2799	2728	56.11%	57.18%	42.82%
SAGRO-DI-SANTA-GIULIA	3240	2216	2148	68.40%	38.64%	61.36%
SAN-MARTINO-DI-LOTA	5188	3441	3345	66.33%	41.91%	58.09%
SARTÈNE	2861	1977	1922	69.10%	44.43%	55.57%
SANTA-MARIE-SICHÉ	6495	4376	4270	67.37%	55.06%	44.94%
TALLANO-SCOPAMÈNE	1625	1095	1073	67.38%	43.71%	56.29%
VENACO	1765	1165	1129	66.01%	63.77%	36.23%
VESCOVATO	5068	2737	2681	54.01%	49.31%	50.69%
VEZZANI	1661	1024	986	61.65%	61.16%	38.84%
ZICAVO	1865	1079	1055	57.86%	70.05%	29.95%

Results by constituency

Constituency	electoral legitimate	Voters	Valid votes	electoral participation	Yes (%)	No (%)
Circonscription de AJACCIO	41016	24876	24261	60.65%	48.36%	51.64%
Circonscription de BASTIA	47424	29843	29174	62.93%	39.52%	60.48%
Circonscription de CORTE BALAGNE	58524	33399	32576	57.07%	56.11%	43.89%
Circonscription de SARTÈNE	45003	26897	26159	59.77%	51.41%	48.59%

Assessment and further development

As a result, the referendum question was rejected with a very narrow majority of 50.98% (2190 more no than yes votes out of 114,970 voters). Just a few hours after the result was known, the FLNC attacked the holiday homes of French mainlanders again. Concern was expressed on many occasions that the violence was now increasing. In protest against the failure of the administrative reform, the members of the nationalist Corsica Nazione left the Corsican parliament on July 18, 2003. On July 21, 2003, bombs exploded outside the finance and customs offices in Nice, for which Corsican nationalists were held responsible and several people were injured.

What was noticeable about the result was that the administrative reform was mainly rejected in the urban regions (Bastia and Ajaccio), while it was largely approved in the rural regions. The rejection in Bastia was much stronger than in Ajaccio, which was possibly due to the fact that Ajaccio was planned as the future capital of the administrative region.

According to some critical observers, the long tradition of subsidization and over-bureaucratisation in Corsica has given rise to a “republican clientelism”. Cross-party politicians and functionaries who benefit from the extensive subsidies from Paris do not want to change anything in the previous centralized system and are loyal supporters of centralism. The long tradition of the centralized government from far-off Paris has also led to the fact that many voters fundamentally distrust the decisions made in Paris and see elections as an opportunity to settle accounts with politicians, ie to reject their proposals. The tradition of regional self-government and self-administration is still young and unfamiliar.

In 2013, a very similar referendum took place in Alsace to unite or dissolve the two Alsatian departments. This referendum was also unsuccessful.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Découverte des institutions :: Comprendre les institutions :: Les collectivités territoriales :: Qu'est-ce que l '"acte I" de la decentralization? February 12, 2015, accessed December 20, 2015 (French). 
2. ↑ Découverte des institutions :: Comprendre les institutions :: Les collectivités territoriales :: Qu'appelle-t-on "acte II" de la decentralization? February 12, 2015, accessed December 20, 2015 (French). 
3. ↑ ^{a b} CONSULTATION DES ÉLECTEURS DE CORSE SUR LA MODIFICATION DE L'ORGANIZATION INSTITUTIONNELLE DE LA CORSE 6 juillet 2003. (PDF) 2003, accessed on 19 December 2015 (French, information dossier from the French Ministry of the Interior on the referendum). 
4. ^ Referendum on the status of Corsica. Berliner Zeitung / AFP, April 5, 2003, accessed on December 19, 2015 . 
5. ↑ Loi n ° 2003-486 du 10 June 2003 organisant une consultation des électeurs de Corse on the modification of the organization institutionnelle de la Corse (1). legifrance.gouv.fr, June 6, 2003, accessed December 19, 2015 (French). 
6. ^ The sensation before the referendum. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, July 5, 2003, accessed December 19, 2015 . 
7. ^ Referendum under the sign of Colonna's arrest: popular vote after theater coup in Corsica. Neue Zürcher Zeitung, July 7, 2003, accessed December 19, 2015 . 
8. ^ ^{A b} Consultation des électeurs de Corse. French Ministry of the Interior, 23 October 2012, accessed 20 December 2015 (French). 
9. ↑ Corsican separatists respond with terror. Süddeutsche Zeitung, July 8, 2003, accessed December 19, 2015 . 
10. ↑ A referendum in Corsica: A worrying result. The Economist, July 10, 2003, accessed December 19, 2015 . 
11. ^ Bomb attacks in front of the authorities in Nice. Der Tagesspiegel, July 21, 2003, accessed December 19, 2015 . 
12. ↑ Michael Moenninger: Strife remains: Corsica, a political nightmare. ZEIT online, April 14, 2005, accessed December 19, 2015 . 
13. ↑ Les Corses et la république. Assemblée nationale, accessed December 20, 2015 (French).