Five months before the presidential election, it is another vote, particularly scrutinized, which is played among the local elected officials. On the occasion of his 103rd congress, which opened on Tuesday 16 November, the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) is preparing to renew its governing bodies. Nearly 10,000 people are expected Porte de Versailles, in Paris.
AMF members are called upon to elect their new president, who will succeed François Baroin, at the head of the association since 2014. Voting begins electronically on Tuesday at 5 p.m. and will end Wednesday at 3 p.m. with the announcement in the wake of the winner’s name. Between battle for the succession of François Baroin and tensions between the influential association and the executive, franceinfo summarizes the stakes of this election.
A duel for the succession of François Baroin
For the first time in many years, two lists will compete to succeed Francois Baroin. the mayor The Republicans of Troyes was elected in 2014 at the head of the AMF, then re-elected in 2017, without a competitor.
One of the candidatures is defended by David Lisnard, outgoing vice-president of the association and LR mayor of Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes). With its baptized list “Union supported by François Baroin “, the elected 52-year-old clearly appears as the designated dolphin of the outgoing president. He embarked on the race with, at his side, the socialist mayor of Issoudun (Indre), André Laignel, irremovable first deputy chairman of the AMF.
The other list is led by Philippe Laurent, secretary general of the association and UDI mayor of Sceaux (Hauts-de-Seine). 67 year old man “highlights its commitment within the AMF for twenty years”, report Le Monde (subscribers article).
The outcome of this clash remains uncertain. On franceinfo, Renaud Muselier openly called to vote for Philippe Laurent. THEhe LR president of the region Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur thus launched a heavy charge against David Lisnard, yet from the same party and from the same region as him. “I haven’t commented on Renaud Muselier’s outings for a long time. He is in the service of the President of the Republic”, retorted the mayor of Cannes. AMF “must be transpartisan, we leave our activist commitments in the locker room”, for his part esteemed François Baroin.
A battle for the head of a “powerful” association
The presidency of the AMF is also disputed because of the statute of the institution. With more than 34,000 mayors and inter-municipal presidents in its ranks, the Association des maires de France “is the most powerful of the elected organizations”, to analyse the political scientist Thomas Frinault, lecturer at Rennes 2 University, in the columns of The cross. The association, created in 1907 to defend municipal interests, is “closely interwoven in the institutional functioning”, continues the daily.
With this 103rd congress on the theme of “Mareas on the front line in the face of crises “, with reference to the” yellow vests “movement and Covid-19, the objective is to once again challenge the major issues of relations between the State and the municipalities. François Baroin also believes that the health crisis has reinforced “in a spectacular, indisputable, indisputable and irreplaceable way the role of the mayor as pillar of the Republic”.
The definition of a line facing the executive
The mayors choose their new boss, but also the relationship they want to maintain with Emmanuel Macron, until the presidential election in April 2022. An issue all the more important after this five-year term marked by disputes between the AMF and the ‘executive. In an attempt to resolve tensions, a large delegation of mayors will be received Wednesday at the Elysee. The head of state will also speak on Thursday, at the end of the congress.
In 2017, Emmanuel Macron was whistled during his first speech at the congress, due to disagreements with elected officials on the abolition of the housing tax. Relations were “very complicated[ées] with Emmanuel Macron, especially at the start of the mandate with the nationalization of the housing tax, with the reform of the PLA [l’aide personnalisée au logement] which means that it is the municipalities that had to assume the burden “, criticized David Lisnard Monday on franceinfo.
In this context, positioning in relation to the Elysee Palace could prove to be crucial to win the ballot. David Lisnard, firmly anchored on the right, wants to be the guarantor of “independent DNA” of the AMF, while Philippe Laurent, taking a more centrist line, is more willing to dialogue with the executive.
David Lisnard moreover accuses his rival of being supported by the presidential majority, even if no member of the government has publicly supported him. Charges rejected by the entourage of the mayor of Sceaux. “We are not remotely controlled by anyone”, defends himself to AFP the mayor of Vesoul, Alain Chrétien, support of the outgoing secretary general.