This August 11 reminds us that Édouard de Lépine passed away six years ago. But beyond the bonds of friendship that his memory rekindles, let us not forget his warnings against the populist drift that would plunge our future in Martinique into chaos if we were to allow those who, on the altar of sovereignty, would sacrifice the people’s legitimate aspirations for greater well-being and a better quality of life… In this sense, this text, written on June 3, 2012, remains as relevant as ever! May he rest in peace!
Because they will take place less than two years before one of the most significant turning points in our history—the establishment of the new single Collectivité and Assembly, which will replace the Department and the Region along with our long-standing General Council (143 years old) and our relatively new Regional Council (31 years)—the upcoming legislative elections are of exceptional significance.
It is, in fact, at the next National Assembly that the method of election and the role of our unified Assembly—the most important tool for any significant improvement in our situation over the next decade—are expected to be ultimately decided. The effectiveness of this instrument will depend on the quality and representativeness of those who will serve in it.
It will be up to them to negotiate with the central government—in accordance with the Constitution—the authorities, adjustments, and resources they deem essential to fully fulfill the role that is rightfully expected of them: to definitively turn the page on colonization and open a new chapter of ever-greater responsibility in the management of our own affairs.
It seems that this issue is a non-issue and, in any case, «one problem too many» that we need not address—and which, moreover, does not interest voters, who are far more concerned with their concrete daily struggles than with how future members of the future Single Assembly will be elected: unemployment, jobs, the high cost of living, education, healthcare, substandard housing, transportation, bike paths, the fare for a round-trip ride between Le Lamentin and Le Morne-Pitault, biodiversity, and information and communication technologies.
It is true that our 45 candidates can count on the leniency or complicity of journalists to avoid having to answer questions that are controversial or might put them on the spot. So everything in this legislative campaign is unfolding as if the transition from our old to our new status were already a moot point, the essential issues having already been settled—including, and perhaps even first and foremost, for those who voted for Hollande, who were promised change for tomorrow and who now seem to believe that change was yesterday or even the day before yesterday, since the left’s main demand for the past 30 years—the single chamber—had already been decided by the law of July 2011, not to mention the miracles of the imagination in the service of politics.
So in this election campaign, people are talking about everything under the sun—except for that July 2011 law, which was passed almost unanimously by Parliament, with both the pro-Sarkozy majority and the Socialist opposition voting in favor. Yet this law establishes both the voting system—dubbed «territorialized proportional representation»—which will put in place the instrument of our liberation, along with a 20 % bonus that constitutes a true political obscenity for the leading list, even with a majority of just a single vote (0.01 %?), and a system of operation that guarantees the stability of this rump democracy for at least SIX years.
On what grounds could the French government justify both honoring the commitment made by candidate François Hollande to completely repeal the entire Sarkozy-era territorial reform—for 98 of France’s 100 departments and 25 of its 27 regions— and at the same time refuse to touch even the tail end of this reform—which is no less “Sarkozy-esque” than its core—for the sole two territories of French Guiana and Martinique?
Should we respect the will of the people, or that of the elected officials who claim to speak on their behalf? The president of the PPM, who is also president of the Regional Council and of the coalition that leads this assembly, asserts that this law would be a compromise—a concept that is entirely acceptable and even advisable in a situation as delicate as ours—and that could therefore be understood, if what were at stake it were not the outright elimination of representation for the cantons and, ultimately, for our municipalities—which form the bedrock of local democracy because they are historically the oldest and politically the most stable of our institutions.
What compromise, anyway? Supporters of full proportional representation across the entire country (MIM-RDM) and those of a cantonal proportional system (???) across nine sections (PPM-EPNM) have reportedly agreed to divide the country into four sections instead of nine. What an immeasurable step forward this transformation is—from four districts planned for a first-past-the-post system in the legislative elections to four sections for a proportional representation list system for our new assembly! We’re certainly not making a mockery of the voter any more than before.
This compromise was reportedly reached in the joint committee established in June 2010 by the Regional Council—which had just been elected (March 2010)—and the General Council, which was set to be replaced nine months later, in March 2011. Not only was this agreement never approved by the Joint Session of the two chambers to which it was supposed to be submitted, but neither of these two chambers had the opportunity to debate it before the parliamentary vote in July 2011. Claude Lise, in the Senate, and Alfred Marie-Jeanne, in the National Assembly, voted against this law, which was never the subject of any compromise among Martinican elected officials.
And not just because of the outrageous 20 % bonus. See, in this regard, the general assessment in the report by Didier Laguerre, secretary-general of the PPM, head of the EPNM group on this Joint Committee, and current alternate for Serge Letchimy in the Centre constituency: «While some common ground was found on minor issues, we were left with a patchwork of different, even divergent, positions… I acknowledge the failure of this committee. » (Minutes of the Joint Committee of Regional Council and General Council Members, by Didier Laguerre, September 16, 2011.)
In reality, the law of July 27 is a poisoned gift from Sarkozy to Martinique and French Guiana, intended to divide the Martinique left even further than it already is—even at the cost of deepening the unease within his own party, at least in Martinique, where the right never stopsswallowing bitter pills as big as boas and discrediting itself a little more each day, despite the new clothes with which it would sometimes like to cover itself or the flashes of lucidity and courage that may occasionally illuminate the famous opacity of what serves as its political platform.
The Martinican left—and, in any case, Martinican progressives—have absolutely no right to be, even in the slightest, complicit in this avoidable drift, which could lead anywhere except to the autonomy and socialism of which we dream.
Just as we must be determined to help consolidate the victory of François Hollande and the French left by ensuring that his Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, and his government the broadest possible majority in the National Assembly, we intend to remain vigilant regarding how those we have sent to serve in the National Assembly might use that power.
Left-wing voters must clearly ask two questions of all candidates—and, first and foremost, of course, those who identify as left-wing:
- Are you for or against the voting system established by the July 2011 law and this outrageous bonus of 20 % awarded to the list that comes in first, even with a majority of just one VOTE?
- Are you for or against a mixed electoral system—combining proportional representation and a majority system—that ensures representation for all political factions in our country as well as for our municipalities?
We will have no qualms about withholding our support from any candidate who refuses to clearly commit to the outright repeal of Sarkozy’s entire territorial reform, including, consequently, with regard to Martinique, and for a redefinition—led first and foremost by Martinique’s elected officials—of the conditions for the transition from our current status to that of a single local authority, which we called for in 2010.
In this, we remain faithful to the vision that the left once had of this process: first we discuss, then we negotiate, and finally we vote—once the people are fully informed about the substance of the discussion and the results of the negotiation. This is the only way to avoid the creeping depoliticization that threatens us—the gradual disengagement of voters from elections, which will interest them less and less if they feel that decisions are being made without them, and sometimes in spite of them, if not outright against them.
Le Robert, June 3, 2012
Édouard de Lépine
Editor's Note
This text was sent to us by a reader (MP), who reminds us that in 2012, political issues were still a concern for activists. But what has become of these political activists, both on the right and on the left?
