Paris (AFP)

At the same time candidates, but not on the same list: in Biarritz, two members of the government will compete for the municipal elections. In the left corner, the former socialist Didier Guillaume. Opposite, the ex-UMP Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, ally of the outgoing mayor MoDem.

"I don't know how we got there," plague a colleague minister when faced with a situation described as "funny" by another secretary of state, but which worries the highest officials of the majority, both the image it returns is considered "deplorable".

The seaside town of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, which has barely 25,000 inhabitants, had hitherto never really been an issue on the electoral map: solidly acquired in the center-right since the Liberation, Biarritz has always voted RPR, UMP then LR in each national election - François Fillon came out on top in the first round of the 2017 presidential election, winning more than 32% of the vote, almost five points more than Emmanuel Macron.

The outgoing mayor, the MoDem Michel Veunac, 73, wants to embody a good municipal centrism dyed in these lands irrigated by the influence of François Bayrou. He also supports AFP to be him, "the only candidate from the presidential majority", especially since he enlisted on his future list the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. And that he swears to have received "a lot of encouragement" from Emmanuel Macron.

But the storm is blowing: Didier Guillaume, Minister of Agriculture, must formalize his candidacy on Saturday, with the support of some 120 local personalities, including the boss of the traders in the halls or the current first deputy of Mr. Veunac, Guy Lafite.

"It seems complicated to go back for six years when we are soon 74 years old," attacks the elected official, who on the contrary praises the qualities of Didier Guillaume (60 years old), "a national personality with experience who wants to get out of this backwater, this closed cup ".

Michel Veunac does not agree: "Didier Guillaume bases himself on Biarritz in an astonishing, somewhat predatory approach. His links with Biarritz are quite tenuous. I think his candidacy surprises the Biarrots, he parachutes himself in this city ​​that doesn't know him, "he squeaks.

- Previous in Reims -

Moreover, Mr. Lemoyne is targeted by the same accusation of parachuting: formerly established in the Yonne, of which he was senator and mayor of the village of Vallery, the secretary of state was also elected in the early 2000s in the fourth district of Paris.

The career paths of Didier Guillaume and Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne have also already been telescoped: in 2017, the name of the latter came back insistently to win the Agriculture portfolio, which had ultimately fallen to Stéphane Travers, then to his rival d 'today.

Faced with the fratricidal duel, La République en Marche has officially decided to adopt a "position of prudence" by not giving investiture to anyone, while the town has become a symbol of macronism since the head of state organized it this summer the G7, considered a success.

"We decided to lift the pencil. It's delicate," sums up party number two, Pierre Person, while the doctrine of the presidential movement wanted all outgoing MoDem mayors to be supported by the marchers.

In the ranks of the majority, we minimize - "It is a purely local fight" -, we feel sorry - "It is certain that if we could have avoided it, it would have been better" -, even ironically: "It is part of the negative externalities of large gatherings," laughs an influential MP.

After the taunt, the configuration worries, since a dozen lists have already declared themselves in Biarritz. Above all, a precedent in 2008 in Reims raises fears of a deadly division: at the time, the ministers Renaud Dutreil and Catherine Vautrin had fiercely clashed. To finally leave the victory to the socialist Adeline Hazan.

© 2020 AFP