The overseas territories, "far from the eyes, far from the heart"? From Paris, each overseas minister wants to deny the formula, seen as a bad case against the overseas policy of his government. So, succeeding Annick Girardin in this function, on July 7, Sébastien Lecornu did not derogate from the proofs of affection addressed to his 2.2 million “compatriots” from the twelve overseas territories.
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"The overseas territories, it is not a matter of identity, it is a matter of the heart", took care to declare the new minister during the handover, anticipating the criticisms against him. - he is the first non-ultramarine to hold this post for eleven years. "And heart, I have," he said.
Delivered with a smile, his declaration of love did not convince all parliamentarians. A week later, on July 15, three Guadeloupe majority deputies refused to vote for confidence in the government, expressing their abstention. "We expect significant progress for the real equality of Ultramarins, not only intentions" , supports one of the "slingers", Walker Olivier Serva, president of the overseas delegation of the National Assembly. A warning to which Sébastien Lecornu, 34, tried to respond with a demonstration of activism.
I want to be minister of overseas as I was mayor
Sebastien LecornuTrip to Guyana with Prime Minister Jean Castex, videoconference interviews with local officials, promise of “fairly long” trips of around a week in each overseas territory, starting with Reunion Island, at the end of August… “I want to be Minister of Overseas, as I was mayor, ” insists the elected representative of Vernon (Eure) to Le Figaro . "I want my action to be visible to the inhabitants."
Its roadmap is no exception. Engaged in "the flow of crisis management" , the minister promises to "continue to fight the virus everywhere" of Covid-19, in particular in Guyana and Mayotte, in a state of health emergency until October 30.
"Priority files"
Going to overseas territories, on average three times poorer than France, he insists on the need for an economic recovery plan "adapted and adaptable to each territory". Finally, he assures us that New Caledonia, called on to vote again on its independence on October 4, is among its “priority issues” . The Caledonian question is all the more thorny as the minister has to deal with a Congress - the archipelago's legislative body - with a pro-independence majority, since its renewal in May 2019.
This political finesse is also required in Paris, where the former member of the Republicans finds himself at the confluence of all the ministries concerned with overseas issues, from National Education to Justice. "The Ministry of Overseas is a mini-Matignon" , recently confided to him his distant predecessor in this position, François Baroin.
Perilous, the mission of the new minister seems to exceed his portfolio. In a team self-proclaimed "government of the territories", it is a question of "reconciling" the "France who feel far away and left behind" , argued the head of government in mid-July, in his general policy speech. Among them, the “France of overseas” . Two years before the presidential election, "Emmanuel Macron gave very clear instructions for overseas," explains a member of the executive. “ He sketches a Chiraquian turn in this area. It has become a reserved area for him. ”
