Since Thursday, January 27, mayors can give their sponsorship to candidates for the presidential election. Objective, 500 elected in 5 weeks so that a candidate can officially start the race. For some it is easier than others, with a large number of mayors tied to their political party. For others who have fewer relays in the field, it’s more complicated. Especially since a number of unlabeled mayors do not want to give their sponsorships made public on the Constitutional Council website.
Emmanuel Delahaye, unlabeled mayor of Mons-Boubert since 2001 has never given his sponsorship. “Simply because I have the respect of my city council and today, like twenty years ago, I ran on an apolitical list. I have people around me who are on the left or right. Never mind. Personally, I have never looked at politics with a small “p” but with a capital “P”. With the development of my territory and the living environment, and that is what prevails over everything. So, giving a vote for a candidate is in any case making a strong political decision and moreover, now, it is completely readable by all. So it necessarily leads to possible discussions within the municipal council, which I can understand.”
The association of mayors of France nevertheless recalls that sponsoring is not supporting
“But that’s not at all what the elected municipal councilors around us think. Rural mayors are important at the moment but otherwise we don’t care at all. They come and get our votes because we we need it to get the 500 signatures. There are even candidates who call you directly. I had a very long exchange with one of the candidates who said that he was going to give rurality a boost that inevitably, he was going to defend rurality. But no, it’s not true.”