Perpignan (AFP)

Republican front against National front, the recipe has often worked, and faced with the rise of the RN in Perpignan, opponents of Louis Aliot compete to carry the standard of a rally against the far right.

In 2014, the outgoing mayor LR Jean-Marc Pujol had beaten Louis Aliot, during a duel in the second round (55-45%), thanks to the withdrawal of the candidate PS. This year, "it seems much more difficult," observes historian Nicolas Lebourg.

"We saw during the presidential election that the anti-FN barrage fire remains powerful in Perpignan", he notes, but if the opposition to Marine Le Pen is "strong", "it is less against Aliot, he has created a softer image. It is not won in advance, but there is a real possibility "that he is elected mayor of Perpignan.

Behind Aliot, the candidates are scrambling, setting themselves up as big rallyers to defeat the candidate from the far right.

In this city of 120,000 inhabitants with 25% unemployment, the latest poll (Ipsos, early February) places Aliot at around 30% on the evening of the first round, ahead of a third, or even a quartet, led by Jean-Marc Pujol, mayor LR since 2009.

With a meager score for an outgoing mayor (19%), Pujol is ahead of the EELV candidate Agnès Langevine and vice-president of the Regional Council (15%), the deputy En Marche Romain Grau (13%) and Caroline Forgues, an engineer at the head of a citizen list supported by rebellious France, the PCF and the NPA (10%).

- "Deadly Match" -

And Jean-Marc Pujol seems the least inclined to withdraw in the second round: "I have already beaten Aliot and I can do it again". "I will take my responsibilities on the evening of the 1st round," he insists. This does not mean that he will retire if Ms. Langevine or Mr. Grau comes in 2nd position after the first round.

According to the environmental candidate, the outgoing mayor is "too weak" and is unable to block the far right a second time. "I am surprised," she said, "the hope of getting out of this deadly match between Aliot and Pujol, to breathe new life into Perpignan, we are the alternative."

If the republican front worked in 2014, after the withdrawal of the PS candidate Jacques Cresta in favor of Mr. Pujol, it caused damage in the ranks of the left. "When you withdraw, you disappear," says Agnès Langevine bitterly.

Romain Grau, comrade of Emmanuel Macron's promotion at the ENA, considers for his part to be "ideally placed at the center of the political spectrum", to lead the republican front on March 22.

Jean-Paul Alduy, mayor of Perpignan from 1993 to 2009, who ceded his chair as mayor to Pujol, now supports the candidate En Marche, and feels "cheated" by the one he nevertheless installed at the town hall of Perpignan. "Today there is a very strong rejection of Jean-Marc Pujol".

- "critical situation" -

"The more lists there are, the more it will benefit Aliot. We are in a critical situation," he warns.

"Very clearly, the vote carry-over works better when the left withdraws for the right. If the right withdraws, the electorate Pujol will prefer to vote Aliot than for Langevine," said historian Nicolas Lebourg.

Meanwhile, Louis Aliot observes the race for 2nd place and ensures that the desire for "clearing" will serve him. "Many will no longer be trapped on the Republican front, he says. It has been 30 years that the left and the right have been on the short scale, I fear that we will reach the end of logic."

More consensual and moderate in his remarks, Aliot seeks to avoid over-mobilization against him, who had deprived him of the town hall in 2014. The campaign is proceeding smoothly and Louis Aliot has not so far been abused by his opponents, in this city anchored on the right since 1959.

"The glass ceiling (deemed to curb the rise of the FN, note)? It no longer exists since 2017", gargles the man who was elected as a deputy in the Pyrenees-Orientales during the legislative elections following the presidential election.

© 2020 AFP