Lille (AFP)
The former director of cabinet Martine Aubry, Violette Spillebout (ex-PS), was invested Wednesday by the Republic topping the list for the municipal elections in Lille next March, announced several sources LREM AFP.
In the fierce internal competition decided by a national commission of investiture, Violette Spillebout, 46, won against the North LREM MP Valérie Petit, 43, deemed close to the minister and strongman of the Lille metropolis Gérald Darmanin and long regarded as a favorite for the nomination.
Questioned by AFP, Ms. Petit confirmed to have been warned by telephone by the general delegate of the Macronist party, Stanislas Guerini, that LREM had preferred her rival.
"The Old World has won ... I'm crying for my city because it's lost" for the majority, said Valerie Petit, who will now "take the time to think" to find out if she can, "for ethical reasons "," stay in En Marche "after the" pressures "and" intimidations "she suffered, according to her, from Camp Spillebout.
"I support the candidacy of @VSpillebout following the investiture @enmarchefr She will find me at his side.I also have a friendly thought for @ValeriePetit_EM", reacted on Twitter the Minister of Action and Public Accounts Gérald Darmanin, traveling in French Guiana.
"It's a Trafalgar hit," said a LREM MP from the North. "It's a very bad decision, we will not be able to win Lille with Violette Spillebout".
"With this choice, it means that they have made a cross on Lille and they do not think they can beat Aubry," told AFP a tenor of the region.
Silence radio at Lille City Hall on this investiture. "We do not choose our opponents", only told AFP the entourage of Martine Aubry. The socialist mayor of Lille could announce at the start that she is seeking a final term.
© 2019 AFP