Toulouse hosted on Saturday a big colloquium on regional merger. Co-organized by Occitan Convergence and País Nòstre, this was a follow-up of the great debate that had been held in Narbonne on 27th September, organized by País Nòstre, an event that featured the participation of key players in the political, economic, cultural and scientific research fields in both regions, which in nine months are expected to make up a larger region in the south and centre of Occitania. A far and wide audience from Languedoc, eastern Gascony and Northern Catalonia completely filled the Sala Osète, in the Mondina City (an alternative name to Toulouse) downtown. How will the new region be called? Which the capital city will be? And the flag? What about its economic, cultural, environmental policies?

Morning lectures

Lectures were held in the morning, among which can be highlighted Alem Surre-Garcia's, who spoke on the common history of the lands between the Garonne and the Rhone, the links between those territories, and the Occitan values of coexistence and equality. Alain Garcia, a member of Airbus Executive Committee, outlined his vision of an economically strong new region working with excellence. Roland Bugat, a member of the Toulouse-Santat Pole, spoke about the future of medical research in the new region. Bugat envisaged that medicine would include the values of coexistence and equality, as a joint result of both dialogue and scientific research. Pèire Escudé stressed the importance of the Occitan language as a "vector". Finally, linguist Patric Sauzet proposed that the region be named after the language, and thus he proposed "South Occitania."

A letter by Claudi Martí was also read, which had also been published in La Dépêche newspaper. In that letter, the Occitan singer suggested Languedoc-Roussillon as the name of the new region, so that the Catalans -even if they inhabit a small portion of the region- are not forgotten.

Afternoon debates

In the afternoon four debates were held on the name of the future region, on its symbols, on its linguistic and cultural policies, and on the policies of territorial and social cohesion.

Beyond the names proposed by Sauzet and Martí, Laffont proposed South-Occitania, and the Mayor of Toulouse Jean-Luc Moudenc proposed Midi Occitan or alternatively Languedoc-Pyrenees. Meanwhile, Midi-Pyrenees region Deputy President Gérard Onesta proposed that the name of the region be simply Occitania. Although the future region covers only a part of Occitania, Onesta argued that this was the way to put Occitania on the political map of the world, thus following the strategy of Catalonia, which is also a small part of the Catalan Countries. However, the choice of "Occitania" as a name should also take into account other Occitan regions.

As regards symbols, unanimity arose that the Occitan cross and the Catalan four stripes should be the new region's flag. The anthem, it was argued, should be Se Canta, which has also a Catalan language version, Aquelles muntanyes. In this regard, it was stressed that the anthem of Occitania is now the official anthem of the Aran Valley.

There was also talk of a national holiday. Commemorating a defeat, as it is done in Catalonia, was mentioned, thus the massacre of Béziers or the battle of Muret could be marked. But Occitan Convergence President Francés Laffont proposed to rather mark a successful day, such as June 25th, when a stone thrown by a woman from Toulouse killed Simon de Montfort.

The opinion of the Catalans

Perpignan Deputy Mayor Brice Lafontaine (a member of Catalan Unity party) and Catalan organization SEM member Pere Manzanares also took part in the debate.

Lafontaine asked for a special status for Northern Catalonia, and he also stated that he would prefer Catalonia not being part of the new region.

Meanwhile, Manzanares agreed with the Occitan character of the new region. "The more Occitan there is, the more Catalan there will be," Manzanares said, arguing that "more French" means "less Catalan."

A referendum

Another matter that gathered unanimous support was a proposal by Secretary of State of Trade and Crafts Carole Delga to hold a public consultation on the name and symbols of the future region.

"As of today it seems that there is no legal possibility to do it," Laffont said to Jornalet. According to him, a referendum is an interesting option, especially if opinion polls published by La Dépêche and Midi Libre are taken into consideration. Those surveys show that "Occitania" is the favourite option. In fact, Laffont was all the time in favor of a name for the future region that brings "identity and pride."

To conclude with, Moudenc invited participants to the Hall of the Distinguished of the Toulouse Capitole, where Se Canta was sung. This was an "emotional moment," Laffont said.

(This article first appeared on Occitan online news website Jornalet, with which Nationalia has a partnership agreement.)

(Picture by Jean-Michel Lattes.)