Municipalities: Castaner defends the abolition of "arbitrary shading" in small towns - France 24

Rennes (AFP)

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner defended the decision on Monday to no longer assign political color to unlabelled candidates in small municipalities during municipal elections, speaking of an "arbitrary shading by the prefects".

"There is no question of removing the political labels. All the mayors, all the municipal teams which will be elected will be able to say their political color. Besides, when they declare their list, they can, if they wish, declare a political label, "said Mr. Castaner, during a trip to Rennes.

"What I am suppressing is that in the communes of less than 9,000 inhabitants, the prefects assume a right: that of giving a political label which may not be in conformity with that desired by the candidates and therefore by the future mayors, "he added. "The arbitrary shading by the prefects (...) has always been disputed," he said.

From the National Rally to the Socialist Party, the opposition is standing up against this decision by the government, which it accuses of wanting to "camouflage" the results of the municipal elections in March.

"There is a political emotion of the moment, it will pass (...) We can clearly see the political instrumentalization which is made of it," replied Mr. Castaner, referring to "vain political politics".

"It's a choice: I have listened to local elected officials, others have listened to the political apparatus," he added.

Mr. Castaner sent a letter, dated January 7, to the president of the Association of Rural Mayors to inform him that the prefects would no longer attribute political nuance to the candidates in the municipalities of less than 9,000 inhabitants, for the elections municipal elections in March.

The "nuance" consists in assigning a political color to the candidates having deposited a list "without label", for example "various right", "various left", "centrist" ... A practice contested by number of elected officials who do not not found in the nuances that are attached to them. It was until now practiced in the communes of more than 1.000 inhabitants.

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