Paris (AFP)

Patrick Ollier (LR), outgoing president and declared candidate in the second round only, was re-elected Thursday to everyone's surprise at the head of the Greater Paris Metropolis, after the withdrawal of his officially chosen rival during a right-wing primary .

"The Metropolis of Greater Paris has won. It re-elects someone who, with his team, did everything to make this metropolis the most useful for the municipalities that make it up. I want to be useful to mayors," said after his re-election Patrick Ollier, 75 years old.

After a second round, Mr. Ollier obtained 133 votes out of 137 votes cast, but in the absence of many elected members of the right who had left the room, contesting negotiations between the relatives of Anne Hidalgo, the outgoing president and the centrists of the UDI.

"I was not a candidate in the first round because I respected the rules of my party which had not retained me," said Mr. Ollier, mayor of Rueil-Malmaison (Hauts-de-Seine) since 16 years old.

Tuesday, during a primary of the right, he had been dismissed, beaten by the mayor of Haÿ-les-Roses (Hauts-de-Seine) and close to the president of the Ile-de-France region Valérie Pécresse (ex-LR, Libres!), fierce opponent of the MGP, Vincent Jeanbrun.

There was "a risk of exploding our work together" and "I am a republican, I know how to work with socialist groups, ecologists, communists and with my friends from the UDI", argued Patrick Ollier.

"For years, Valérie Pécresse has been trying to dynamite this metropolis from the inside as well as from the outside," said Anne Hidalgo, who was comforted after the re-election of Mr. Ollier, reminded her rival that "the MGP cannot be hostage to the start of a regional campaign. "

"It is not democracy but nepotism," denounced the unsuccessful candidate, Vincent Jeanbrun, after leaving the assembly. "We have the Grand Duchess of the metropolis, who is called Madame Hidalgo, and who has given, as in the nobility of the great era, posts, armchairs and delegations," he said.

Greater Paris brings together the capital and 130 municipalities of Ile-de-France, for more than seven million inhabitants, but its very existence and its perimeter are disputed.

Upon his arrival at the Elysée Palace, Emmanuel Macron had announced in July 2017 his intention to reform this little-known metropolis to raise it to international standards. He intended to simplify the structures in order to avoid duplication with other levels of community (municipalities, departments, IDF regions), but the project got bogged down.

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