Paris (AFP)
The Republic on the march (LREM) has invested Monday Gérard Collomb as head of the list to lead the metropolis of Lyon after the municipal elections in March, preferring him to his competitor David Kimelfeld.
The presidential party has invoked in a statement "loyalty to one of the first supporters of the President of the Republic" and the "coherence" of a "local elected official who has personally led the creation of the Metropolis of Lyon (and) who has actively contributed to its influence.
LREM also indicated "regret" that Mr. Kimelfeld did not "register" in a "joint approach".
According to La Republique en marche, "Gerard Collomb has applied to the national investiture commission of LREM, and he received the support of the MoDem during the weekend", while, for a long time, the former Minister of the Interior had sworn not to claim the anointing of the party, which only Mr. Kimelfeld sought.
The decision of the national commission of investiture marks the end of a soap opera of several months, opposing the strong man of Lyon, elected mayor in 2001, and his ex-dauphin become rival who had succeeded him at the head of the metropolis .
"Kimelfeld came out of the game by announcing that he would not respect the decision if it was not favorable," noted last week a source within LREM.
The entourage of the latter announced to AFP after this announcement that "there would be no reaction for the moment."
"Our schedule is no longer that of LREM, our only goal is to successfully launch the campaign" scheduled with a meeting Wednesday night, said the source, confirming the desire of Mr. Kimelfeld to run for the city without the investiture of the presidential party.
- Fidelity rewarded -
David Kimelfeld, however, had successfully landed as an outsider, younger (58 years against 72), more ecological, more social and, according to some, legitimate to keep a position that Gerard Collomb had entrusted to him by leaving Paris without being able to take him back on his return.
The leadership of the party had long considered that the two men were "condemned to hear each other", the one the city hall, the other the metropolis, the statutes of the latter - which concentrates the main powers - preventing the accumulation of two positions.
The situation had, however, continued to fester.
Emmanuel Macron first tried mediation by proposing a mandate shared by the two men, a solution that Mr. Kimelfeld refused, at the risk of appearing, in spite of himself, to dissent.
Before finally giving up, the one who was his first weight support and without which, in his eyes, LREM would have trouble keeping his stronghold.
Monday, a few hours before the official announcement of The Republic on the march, which rustled for several days, George Képénékian, ephemeral mayor of Lyon when Mr. Collomb was place Beauvau before supporting Mr. Kimelfeld, announced his candidacy for mayor.
Mr. Képénékian said he was close to the opponent of Mr. Collomb while assuring that "there is no ticket between him and me, but a real complicity". The current boss of the metropolis then immediately split a statement by assuring him "all (his) support and (his) confidence in the electoral battle that opens".
© 2019 AFP