- The deposit of the lists for the second round of the municipal elections is closed since this Tuesday 6 p.m.
- Surprise and thunderclap. After successful negotiations, attempts at alliance, Jeanne Barseghian (EELV) and Catherine Trautmann (PS) get angry and will not make alliance. Alain Fontanel (LREM) and Jean Philippe Vetter (LR) present at the last moment a common list for June 28, the day of the second round of municipal elections.
A dramatic coup between environmentalists and socialists, a poker coup for LREM and LR. The sweet electoral campaign for municipal in Strasbourg is racing. Until the last moment this Tuesday, the suspense remained whole.The four candidates having won more than 10% of the votes cast in the first round negotiated fiercely a possible rapprochement for the second round. Because it must be remembered, apart from the environmentalist Jeanne Barseghian who came first, the other three candidates are standing in a pocket handkerchief. All against a record abstention background.
We had to wait for two unexpected open-air press conferences, almost simultaneous and a few hundred meters from each other, candidate environmentalists and socialists, to lift part of the veil. An ubiquitous situation which buried (probably for a long time) a possible agreement between the two lists. Another major twist is the last-minute alliance (?) Between Alain Fontanel (LREM) and Jean Philippe Vetter (LR). While the latter seemed to indicate since yesterday that he did not want any alliance, the two candidates tabled 15 minutes before the closing of a joint list. A skillful maneuver? A poker game? Opportunistic? Unheard of in Strasbourg…
The environmentalist and socialist clash
With 27.87% of the votes won in the first round, Jeanne Barseghian, the environmental candidate, seemed to have a certain base. But the Covid-19 crisis has been invited to the party ever since… To secure its rear, the socialist Catherine Trautmann, who came in third position with 19.77% of the vote, eventually had to be convinced, to join her. Moreover, for several days, the hands extended to the address of the candidate PS have multiplied: declaration, tribune of elected representatives on the left, the road seemed almost all marked out. Ostensibly…
Furious at having been "considered as a simple back-up force but not as a partner list", Catherine Trautmann denounces among other things the lack of respect shown by the environmental candidate Jeanne Barseghian. The latter, however, claims to have "worked tirelessly to try to find an agreement" but recognizes the failure of the negotiations, "despite the multiple, balanced and respectful offers that we have put on the table. "According to her, the ecologists would have proposed a third place to Catherine Trautmann and to integrate on the merged list the running members of the PS list" with the proportional of the scores of the first round ". In addition, the candidate EELV said that she was opposed to the "distribution" of the post of president of the eurometropolis between Strasbourg. An additional point of contention, on the form as on the substance, which made the discussions collapse. “I had not asked for the presidency of the Eurometropolis, just the support of his majority for my candidacy. She did not answer me, explained for her part Catherine Trautmann. Anyway, I quickly understood that we should no longer talk about the presidency, she had already promised it to someone on her list. "
Very upset, the former mayor of Strasbourg denounced the very attitude of Jeanne Barseghian and criticized him for his lack of collaboration. “There cannot be a common list without any trust agreement or support, I have never known that! On a mandate, it would have been difficult to hold like that. The current vice-president of the Eurometropolis even suspects Jeanne Barseghian of having "played the watch" to "make them bear the failure of the union". By negotiating at a discount, Jeanne Barseghian visibly enraged Catherine Trautmann. "I hate being taken for idiots and being walked on the head. I thought I was reviewing old PS practices, ”said the former minister again.
An agreement on the LREM and LR thread
Thunderbolt again on Tuesday, 15 minutes before the end of the lists. Current first deputy mayor, Alain Fontanel (LREM), who came in second position in the first round with 19.86% of the vote, very discreet since on his intentions, finally allied with Jean-Philippe Vetter, LR candidate. The latter still pretended this afternoon, before the announcement of Barseghian Trautmann, to want to go it alone with his 18.26% of the vote. He will eventually be # 3 on the list, # 2 being a person very close to both lists. "The balance is total," says the candidate. “Faced with the crisis, we had to unite and face dogmatism and a doctrinaire policy. Where there was distrust (EELV / PS), there was confidence ”, Jean-Philippe Vetter still welcomes. A rapprochement between the two men, desired by some, which will certainly weigh very heavily in the balance on June 28, but above all cause regret for others…
Our file on municipal
Strasbourg residents will have the choice between three lists. The municipal elections are therefore wide open. But in the end, there will only be one left… It remains to be seen whether voters will make the trip for this unique poster.
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