“We don’t warn, we move on town hall schedules”, exposes Marion Détais, 38 years old. This former candidate of La France rebellious for the departmental elections of 2021 in Mayenne will knock on the town halls of small towns in the west of the department. It’s almost door-to-door dozens of activists. They are trying to collect sponsorship from mayors across France so that their candidate can run for president. We need 500 referrals by the end of March and it’s not just for the “small” candidates that the task is tough.
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La France insoumise claims today only a little more than 400 promises. “We are trying to obtain sponsorship by insisting that it is not necessarily support for Jean-Luc Mélenchon but to guarantee democracy and the plurality of elections”, develops Marion Détais. Then it’s haphazard luck. “Hello, I come to see if it would be possible to meet the mayor for the presidential sponsorships”. But in general the city councilor is not there, as in Saint-Cyr-le-Gravelais.
Next destination: Beaulieu-sur-Oudon. But bad luck this time again: “Did we miss him by a few minutes? Is it possible he’ll call me back to make an appointment?” This search for sponsorships is like a treasure hunt for the activist: “It takes a lot of time and energy. Sometimes you come home a little demoralized.” And then suddenly, in the parking lot of the town hall of Méral, it’s a miracle. Marion Détais meets the mayor, Richard Chamaret. He improvises an appointment, while managing the “Covid” absences of staff at school. “I’m going to do the canteen this afternoon with the teams, says the local elected official. This is the life of a rural mayor.”
Marion Détais presents the program of her candidate: “Among the measures, there is the organic and free canteen.” But for the aedile“Nothing is free, there is bound to be someone who pays.” Richard Chamaret explain to be “Glad to be able to debate. There is a good chance that it will not necessarily be Mr. Mélenchon.” The activist insists:It is above all the program that you have to watch, not the man.”
“I’m not very left-leaning but more of a fairly moderate right-wing sensibility., concedes the mayor. But in a democracy, we need all the ideas. I’m not stopped on a sponsorship.” End of the interview, the activist emerges invigorated by the exchange: “It’s cool, even if we don’t have the sponsorship, it was, I think, constructive!” And here she goes again to defend democracy, on the small roads of Mayenne.