Comments: Césaire’s Federalism

Abstract

The centenary of Césaire’s birthday, in 2013, has been marked by the publication of an impressive Biobibliography of Aimé Césaire, completed, more recently, by the edition of his Political Writings, still in progress. These two publishing endeavors allow us to evaluate the public carrier of a man who was not only a very famous French poet but also a politician with an exceptional longevity. He was, without interruption, the mayor of Fort-deFrance (Martinique) from 1945 to 2001, and French MP from 1945 to 1993. Indisputably a talented politician, but a statesman? A questionable assertion if we look at the present state of his island. Most recently, for instance, Serge Letchimy, the last president of the (French)“region” of Martinique, leader of the Cesairian party, the Progressist Party of Martinique (PPM), spent lavishly. He hired more employees for the region during the period when he had to prepare the merger of the “region” with the “department”, whereas this merger was intended to rationalize, i.e. to cut expenses. He failed to win the presidency of the new “Collectivité territoriale de Martinique” (CTM) thanks to an agreement between Alfred Marie-Jeanne, the head of the “Mouvement Indépendantiste Martiniquais” (MIM) and Yan Monplaisir, the head of the right, which always favors a close relationships with France. This unholy alliance, in spite of its electoral efficiency, doesn’t clarify the political situation in Martinique, even if the people clamoring for independence are in no hurry to get it and even if the right is now ready to accept a degree of political autonomy.