It’s almost a rebellion. The president of the executive council of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique refused to obey a request from the prefect to withdraw the deliberation of the local assembly which establishes Creole as the official language of the island “in the same way as French”. Serge Letchimy, the head of the local executive, opposes a request from the prefect of the island within the framework of the control of legality, because “this refusal is an act of marooning, a declaration of dissent in the contemporary debate but historic that we open between imprescriptible natural rights and the right to equality, ”he announced in a press release on Sunday evening.
On May 25, three days after the celebrations of the 175th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Martinique, the elected representatives of the Assembly of Martinique adopted a text whose article 1 makes Creole the official language of Martinique. like the French.
The deliberation “is tainted with illegality”
Guarantor of the control of the legality of the deliberations of the local authorities, Jean-Christophe Bouvier, prefect of Martinique asked on July 25 the president of the executive body of the CTM to withdraw this article, reminding him that “the first paragraph of the Article 2 of the Constitution of August 4, 1958 provides that: “The language of the Republic is French”. For the prefect, the deliberation “is tainted with illegality” justifying his request to “kindly withdraw it”.
The president of the executive council of the CTM also anticipated the referral to the administrative court by the prefect: “I know that we have already been condemned by the judicial institutions which will not recognize the legitimacy of this fight. However, it is with dignity that I will assume this condemnation, ”he said in his press release.
Since his return to power in June 2021, Serge Letchimy has repeatedly expressed his intention to change relations between France and the overseas territories and particularly Martinique. He is the instigator of the Appeal of Fort-de-France in May 2022 which led to the opening of congresses of elected officials in Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana. Meetings during which possible institutional changes for these territories were discussed. In February 2023, the community of Martinique also adopted the red-green-black flag, symbol of the independence movements, as a regional emblem.