Non-cumulation of mandates: fifteen parliamentarians divided between the National Assembly and the office of mayor

It is a curious phenomenon that has befallen the National Assembly: several deputies no longer want to sit. And they have a good reason for that: they have better things to do. They were elected mayors (some in the first round in March, others last Sunday), and they prefer to run a city rather than sit on the benches of Parliament.

They are a good fifteen in this case: ten Republicans, five socialists and a communist. It's a lot, fifteen at a time. But there is worse. Some of those who will resign have no replacement. They do have a substitute, but that doesn't interest them either. All these alternates also prefer to keep their local mandates or the trade they had kept while being on the sidelines. Each time, there will therefore be a partial legislative election.

It sounds like nothing but it's a big change. In the classic course of a good political activist, there are of course local responsibilities. But, from time immemorial, they were conceived (by most) as a step, a springboard towards a national mandate, deputy or senator, or better still towards a ministry. And up to the Elysée, of course, for the more ambitious. It is this logic of conquest that has been broken. This is the consequence of the rule of not holding multiple offices.

This rule will force Gérald Darmanin to choose between his chair as mayor of Tourcoing and a portfolio of minister, the one he currently has or another in the next government. It is this rule which would require Edouard Philippe, if he was returned to Matignon, to give up directing the city of Le Havre. This non-cumulation is also very criticized by many parliamentarians who say they have lost part of their links with their territory, with local life, with people. No local mandate, it is no sensor of weak signals, those which would, for example, have allowed the phenomenon of yellow vests to emerge.

And choosing between two terms does not necessarily mean opting for that of mayor. Several explanations. There is surely the presidentialization of the regime, which is obviously not a factor of fulfillment when you are one of 577 deputies. There is the feeling that, conversely in his city, we have the controllers, we can decide, we can apply. Then there is the degradation of the status and reputation of the elected official. It is a progressive phenomenon, which has just accelerated markedly with the case of the Citizen's Climate Convention.

When you have spent years militating, towing, fighting politically, when you have been elected at the end of an often bitter electoral campaign, and when you see 150 citizens arriving who have won a draw, who find themselves invested with a reputation as a savior of the planet and with the power of general supervisor of your work ... At best, it calms, at worst, it discourages.