Perpignan (AFP)

The deputy RN Louis Aliot won Sunday Perpignan against the mayor LR Jean-Marc Pujol, the first victory of the National Rally (RN) in a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants since Toulon, conquered in 1995.

"We have won. It is a system that is crumbling. We have had the same political staff in Perpignan at the helm since 1959. It was becoming unhealthy," Louis Aliot told AFP at his campaign office in of his closest collaborators.

In favorable ballot after the first round (35.6% against 18.4% to Mr. Pujol) and facing a fragile "republican front", Louis Aliot won Sunday between 53 and 54% of the vote, according to estimates from three pollsters.

In this city of 120,000 inhabitants, 66,800 voters were called to vote on Sunday. Despite the summer weather and the proximity of the beaches, a quarter of an hour from Perpignan, participation was higher than that of the 1st round (47% against 40%).

- "A signal" -

"The Perpignan people, the Catalans are sending a sign to the whole of France. There is no wall that cannot be demolished, this Republican front was a scam," added Louis Aliot, elected deputy for the Pyrénées-Orientales in 2017.

He also praised "the unfailing support of RN and Marine (Le Pen)", he said before being interrupted by a phone call. The vice-president of the National Rally Jordan Bardella also welcomed his victory in Perpignan, seeing in it a "symbol" that the party can manage to make "blow up the Republican front".

"There are two of us," he said to Robert Ménard, mayor of Béziers (Hérault), who sent him his congratulations. Mr. Aliot has often said that he was inspired by the management of Robert Ménard in the city of Bitter.

In 2014, Pujol beat Aliot in the second round of the municipal elections with 21,786 votes (55%), 4,000 more than Louis Aliot (17,744 votes, 45%).

Perpignan has known since 1959 only three mayors, on the right: Paul Alduy (1959-1993), his son Jean-Paul Alduy (1993-2009) and Mr. Pujol since 2009.

- "infinite sadness" -

"It is with infinite sadness that I cash in the results. As we feared, and despite all our efforts to clear an electoral route that would have avoided this deleterious duel, the worst is taking over the controls of our city ", reacted Agnès Langevine, 3rd in the 1st round with 14.5% of the vote, who withdrew in favor of Mr. Pujol.

The 4th qualified for the second round, LREM MP Romain Grau (13%), also withdrew.

For political scientist Nicolas Lebourg, Louis Aliot owes his victory to "a decomposition of the political offer, there were five lists of right and center, and a political offer with economic liberalism, and the authority-security base of the RN. He managed to convince right and center voters. "

According to him, the right made a mistake to oppose him "a candidate of 71 years out of breath" and the contested record.

Louis Aliot presented in Perpignan a list without label, without RN logo to allow him to rally to his candidacy personalities of the classic right.

"And for the first time, there was no meeting with the president of the FN, which was until then the highlight of the campaign," notes the political scientist.

© 2020 AFP