Municipalities in Marseille: Vassal steps down, LR will introduce MP Teissier to be mayor - France 24

Marseille (AFP)

The president of the metropolis and of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône Martine Vassal (Les Républicains) announced Thursday that she was withdrawing from the race for the succession of Jean-Claude Gaudin in Marseille, for which LR will present the candidacy of the deputy Guy Teissier.

"I made the choice of wisdom, I made the choice of experience, I made the choice of consensus," said Ms. Vassal at a press conference alongside Mr. Teissier. , also assuring that the dissident candidate LR Bruno Gilles was going to bring his 3 votes to the latter during the mayor's election scheduled for Saturday.

In the second round of the municipal elections on Sunday, the union of the left, known as the Marseilles Spring, came largely ahead across the second largest city in France. But the election of the mayor, as in Paris and Lyon, is played by sectors. With Mr. Gilles joining LR, the two blocs now have 42 votes each on the board, where the absolute majority is 51 votes.

With the eight councilors elected on her list in her sector, the ex-PS senator Samia Ghali is now the one to whom all eyes are turned.

"She is responsible for her votes, I invite you to ask her the question to see what will happen," said Ms. Vassal, recalling that LR had withdrawn his candidate from his sector in the 2nd round, unlike the Marseille spring.

The National Rally, even if its leader Stéphane Ravier has not managed to keep its town hall in the 13th and 14th arrondissements of Marseille, also has nine seats on the municipal council.

"The lists that I led, they resisted well," said Ms. Vassal, judging that her camp of "moderates, humanists" had "all legitimacy" to present a candidate for central mayor, despite his arrival largely in second position Sunday evening.

"Our choice is not to let the ultra-left take the city of Marseille," she continued, also referring to the age of Mr. Teissier - 75 years old - to justify the choice of pass her hand.

The election of the mayor by the municipal council takes place initially with two rounds where the candidates must win the absolute majority; in the third round, a simple majority suffices, and in the event of a tie, the oldest candidate is elected. Ms. Rubirola, the leading environmentalist for Marseille Spring, is 63 years old.

© 2020 AFP