Finally there will be no Corsican national front running for 2010 island's parliamentary elections. The relationship between pro-autonomy and pro-independence supporters has grown distant since their coalition Unione Naziunale broke up last year. Only this week the Party of the Corsican Nation (PNC) cleared up rumors of an eventual merging as it turned down Corsica Libera's proposals of joining together. The leftist pro-independence party announced in October it was to propose a "basis for political convergence" aimed at seeking mutual collaboration and common ground.

However, PNC leader Jean-Christophe Angelini has turned a deaf ear to Corsica Libera's chief Jean-Guy Talamoni. Angelini said each party must run with their own list of candidates because there is "no discrepant or competitive relation" between the two parties and that both leaderships are "substantially different".

The fact that Corsica Libera broke the coalition a year ago may have been a reason for PNC's outright opposition to a new alliance. But it is far more plausible to believe that the pro-autonomists' stance has to do with a poll published recently. The results showed the Party of the Corsican Nation as the leading Corsican nationalist party, with 11% of the share. The other pro-autonomy party, Inseme per a Corsica, would get 6% of the vote, which would amount to a total 17%, a 2% more than the share obtained by PNC in coalition with Corsica Libera in 2004 elections. According to the poll, Talamoni's party would now drop to an alarming 4%, which would not allow it entering the Assembly of Corsica.

Further information:

• AFP: Territoriales: les indépendantistes discutent avec les nationalistes modérés
• Corsematin.com: Le PNC décline l'offre de Corsica Libera
• Nationalia:Corsica profile and dossier Peoples and nations today: Corsica.