Paris (AFP)
The government gives the green light to the installation of municipal councils elected in the first round of municipal elections on March 15, following the advice of the scientific council, according to a report to Parliament released Tuesday.
The government considers that the current provisions of state of health emergency and in particular an ordinance to come Wednesday in the Council of Ministers "will allow the implementation of the recommendations of the committee of scientists", which recommended the respect of strict sanitary conditions.
Thus, estimates the government, "the opinion of the committee of scientists, and the legal framework which will result from the promulgation of these ordinances, will allow the entry into function of the municipal and community councils elected as of the 1st turn".
More than 30,000 municipalities in which the municipal council was fully elected in the first round are affected out of a total of around 35,000.
The ordinance presented Wednesday must specify the dates and conditions for installing the boards.
Edouard Philippe had seized on May 4 the scientific council on the risks and precautions to be taken for the installation of the councils which must proceed to the election of the mayor and the assistants.
Their establishment had been postponed as well as the holding of the second round, scheduled for March 22, due to the health crisis - the mandate of outgoing mayors was then extended.
In its opinion published Monday, the scientific council recommended the adaptation of certain rules. He recommends in particular that the place of the meeting of the municipal council allows to apply the barrier measures, "which implies in particular an area of 4m² minimum per person present".
The ordinance "will allow the municipal council to meet in any place, including outside the commune, so that the barrier measures can be fully respected", specifies the government in its report to the Parliament.
The mayor must also decide "whether the meeting will take place without the presence of the public or with a limited number of people present". Each municipal councilor may hold two proxies, and the quorum will be set at one third of the council's staff.
About 79% of the councils elected in the first round have less than 20 elected officials, 95% less than 30 elected officials, and only 34 have more than 50, according to official figures.
These installation provisions also concern 154 inter-municipal authorities.
By May 23, the scientific council must give another opinion on the state of the epidemic and the possibility of organizing the second round and in the approximately 5,000 remaining municipalities.
dch / reb / shu
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