In a press release first published on social networks, the Presidents of the Young Farmers' Union (JA) of Haute-Corse denounce a series of memberships ” surprises » to their union in the run-up to the elections of the Territorial Chamber of Agriculture of Corsica which will be held from January 15 to 31. Memberships that they attribute to one of the two lists in the running, in this case the list “A l'iniziu, una terra”, led by Jean-Baptiste Arena. “ At the start of this January, we noticed that a series of memberships had been sent to our union JA Haute-Corse, with the corresponding payment of contributions, all made by bank transfer. To our great surprise, we discovered that this sudden frenzy of memberships, made during the holidays, came from Mr. Jean-Baptiste Arena himself, leader of the list competing with ours in the framework of the 2025 Chamber of Agriculture elections. , as well as a certain number of his running mates or active supporters ».
Memberships in question
The presidents of the JA union believe that these memberships raise some questions: “ What should we think of these surprise and immoral attempts at membership? Is this the work of an unscrupulous individual, who would like to create a deleterious and controversial climate in this electoral campaign? Would Mr. Arena and his teammates be sensitive to the agricultural policy approach led by the JA? Finally, could this result from an attempt to destabilize a union of Young Farmers, which has always worked alongside farmers and Corsican agriculture with honesty and respect? “. And to comment: “ We refuse to believe this last option is possible, as it seems ludicrous to us. “. They therefore urge Jean-Baptiste Arena “ to make its position known publicly on this worrying subject “. Before concluding “ Sure of the support of farmers who know the work we do on a daily basis, far from sterile controversies and low political stratagems, we continue to trust the driving forces of agriculture ».
A democratic practice
If the JA union is officially on a joint list with the outgoing president, Joseph Colombani, some of its members joined the list led by Jean-Baptiste Arena and were present during his closing campaign meeting which was held on Sunday after noon, in Corti. When questioned, Jean-Baptiste Arena expressed his surprise: “ A union doesn't belong to anyone! Everyone can join! “. Before confirming that the young farmers, members of the union, who joined it, felt that they “ don't have not been respected in their own union during the discussions that have taken place over the past three months. They wanted to take control of the destiny of their union, in a democratic way. Nothing but very normal! ».
