Can ministers remain mayors or department presidents?

Several members of the government are at the head of a local executive. A situation permitted by law but which would deviate from a political tradition dating back to 1997.

Will the Barnier government deviate from an unspoken rule dating back to 1997? Freshly appointed on Saturday 21 September, several ministers have made it known that they wish to combine their local mandates with their new role. This is the case for the mayor of Châteauroux, Gil Avérous, now Minister of Sports, who explained this on France Bleu.e Minister Delegate for Fisheries, Fabrice Loher, Mayor of Lorient, has expressed the same desire to West Francelike his colleague at the Ministry of Transport, François Durovray, also president of the Essonne departmental council, on TF1. Nicolas Daragon, Minister Delegate in charge of Daily Security, also intends to remain Mayor of Valence, reports France Bleu.

Enough to attract criticism from a section of the political class. Fabrice Loher “will not be able to be a full-time minister, he will not be able to be a full-time mayor, he will not be able to be a full-time president of Lorient agglomeration”, the Green MP was indignant. from Morbihan, Damien Girard, with the TelegramIn Drôme, the socialist deputy Paul Christophe also denounced the choice of Nicolas Daragon, believing that“Being a minister has become a hobby that one can accept without questioning what it means in terms of commitment”.

All justify their decision by their attachment to their cities. Gil Avérous mentions his promise to remain mayor until 2026 “which still holds”while Nicolas Daragon explains to World not to want “betray the commitment made to the people of Valentin”. But it is possible that the decision of the new ministers is linked to the current political instability, while the government is operating under the threat of a motion of censure, and to the electoral calendar: the next municipal elections are scheduled for 2026.

Could ministers be forced to choose between their local mandate and their government position? Legally, there is nothing to prevent a minister from retaining his local mandate. According to the Constitution, the office of minister is only incompatible with that of parliamentarian, by virtue of the separation of powers.

There is, however, a political custom that has been in force for almost thirty years. Lionel Jospin’s government had in fact established a rule of non-accumulation between local mandate and ministerial portfolio in 1997. The rule was then taken up in 2002 by Jacques Chirac, before being formalized in 2012. François Hollande and his Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault had put in place a “code of ethics” signed by the ministers. This specified that the members of the government had to “to give up any local executive mandates they may hold”. The rule was maintained by the various governments under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, even if certain ministers, such as Gérald Darmanin in Tourcoing, had dragged their feet.

Will Michel Barnier decide to disregard this tradition? The new Prime Minister has not yet officially taken a position on this subject. “I will remain mayor if the Prime Minister allows me to do so”explained Gil Avérous. Contacted by franceinfo, Matignon did not respond to our questions. The head of government could, however, take his predecessors as an example to invoke exceptions to the rule.

Under François Hollande, Jean-Yves Le Drian had thus combined the functions of Minister of Defense and President of the Brittany region from 2015 to 2017. Two ministers were entitled to preferential treatment under Emmanuel Macron: then in Overseas, Sébastien Lecornu had chaired the Eure departmental council between 2021 and 2022 and Rachida Dati had been able to remain mayor of the 7th arrondissement of Paris after her appointment to the Ministry of Culture.

The issue of holding multiple mandates frequently comes up in public debate. The Socialist Party, then in power, had a reform adopted on this subject in 2014. Since 2017, deputies, senators and MEPs can no longer be mayors, deputies, presidents or vice-presidents of intercommunality, departmental council and regional council. However, it is still possible to be a municipal, departmental or regional councilor.

The right and part of the centre opposed the reform at the time and some are still campaigning for its repeal. In March, the Horizons group submitted a bill to the Assembly aimed at allowing parliamentarians to be assistants to a local executive. “Having a local executive function allows you to get your hands dirty and tackle problems”explained at the time the deputy of Indre-et-Loire Henri Alfandari.

In May, a report by Renaissance MP Eric Woerth proposed going further by removing the 2014 law. However, other political forces are campaigning for greater control over the actions of elected officials. In March, Green MPs tabled a law proposing to prohibit parliamentarians from serving more than three consecutive terms. None of these projects have come to fruition so far.