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Reunion - Government

The name Reunion Island very much captures the essence of this place… With populations from Africa, Madagascar, Asia and Europe, this island's success as a melting pot of cultures is a happy exception in the current political landscape.

The island of Réunion is a DOM-ROM (Department and Overseas Region). Officially, the name DOM-TOM no longer exists, we now speak of DOM (Department of Overseas) and ROM (Overseas Region). Reunion is one of four French overseas departments. It is also one of France's 18 regions and as such shares the same status as those on mainland France. Reunion has two elected legislative bodies - the General Council and the Regional Council. Members are elected by universal suffrage. The territory sends seven deputies to the French National Assembly and three representatives to the Senate.

Elections held in Réunion include the French presidential vote. A prefect is appointed by the president on the advice of the French Ministry of the Interior. The presidents of the General and Regional Councils are elected by members of those councils. Administratively, Réunion is divided into 24 communes (municipalities) grouped into four arrondissements. It is also subdivided into 49 cantons, meaningful only for electoral purposes at the departmental or regional level.

Instituted under the third Republic, universal suffrage allowed Reunionese to participate into local political and electoral battle. The year 1889 is marked by the acquisition of French nationality by Indians, though all the PIO [Persons of Indian Origin] were granted citizenship in 1920. It was a very cumbersome process for Indians to become French citizens; numerous files were then deposited by this Indians to acquire the status of French in order to avail all civil and political rights. The participation of PIOs in local politics moves in a snail pace. They were mainly with the left leaning parties, as they claim to be the party that provides equal opportunity and protection of the interests of workers. Thus the PIO's choice ultimately fell with the Communist Party.

The year 1946 saw the introduction of Département d'Outre-Mer [DOM] in the Island, though was interpreted by various historians as a strategic move of France to check the United States activities in the Indian Ocean belt. However this can also be called a system for complete assimilation.

The Communist Party of Réunion (PCR) has long played a very important role in the political life of Reunion, especially during the second half of the twentieth century and especially during its last third. Paul Vergès, one of his emblematic figures, was at the head of the Region for 12 years (1998-2010). However, in recent years, the PCR seems to be flagging. In fact, out of the 24 municipalities in Reunion, only one is owned by the Communist Party.

Trade unions in Reunion were local branches of the three major French national trade union centers: The General Confederation of Labor-Workers' Force (Confederation Generale du Travail-Force 0uvriere--CGT-F0), the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (Confederation Francaise Democratique du Travail--CFDT), and the General Confederation of Labor (Confederation Generale du Travail--CGT). Data are lacking on the membership of these branches. Through their counterparts in France, they were affiliated, respectively, with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions (Confederation International des Syndicats Chretiens-CISC), and the Communist World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).

Although diplomacy, military and French government matters are handled by Paris, Réunion is a member of La Francophonie, the Indian Ocean Commission, the International Trade Union Confederation, the Universal Postal Union, the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa, and the World Federation of Trade Unions in its own right.

Thanks to the international convention at Montego Bay, France has access to an enormous fishing zone around Réunion - some 318,300 km2 and this along with its other Indian Ocean dependencies grants the French govenment a huge 'exclusive economic zone'. Not that France exploits this itself but it rents out the fishing rights mainly to fleets from Taiwan.