The atmosphere is tense between the government and its minority ally, “Les Verts”. Leader Sylvio Michel led a protest march to show his party’s disagreement with the government’s non-decision on the compensation for descendants of slaves. Sylvio Michel is adamant that the government promised this in its electoral manifesto. As for Paul Bérenger, he maintains that financial compensation has never been an issue.

Although the prime minister has not publicly expressed his discontent with his “old friend”, it is clear that he would like his noisy partner to stop protesting, especially as general elections are coming soon and he would like to show a united front.

Sylvio Michel has warned that he could leave the alliance if his partners do not respect their commitments. If this happened, the government would lose a certain number of votes. As a result, the prime minister has adopted a smooth tone. “I would like the Verts to remain in the alliance.”

But Sylvio Michel does not look ready to make concessions. During the protest march, held to commemorate the international day of the slave trade and its abolition, the leader of “Les Verts” claimed he did “not fear revocation. I don’t care!”

However, his brother Elie has gone even further - he has presented an ultimatum to the government urging it to make a decision by December .

Paul Bérenger has tried different methods to calm down Sylvio Michel but has not met with much success. However, he keeps his stand: “When we made the alliance, we intended to follow any international trend over this question of compensation to slaves as well as indentured labourers.” “Preserving national unity” is reason enough why giving such compensation is undesirable.

As for “Les Verts”, this may simply be a matter of making its presence in the government felt. In April, Sylvio Michel complained his party was only an observer in the alliance. This conflict could be just a way of attracting electors’ and government’s attention… The more so, since he has no clear idea of the form this compensation should take.