Jean-Luc Boujon (in Saint-Étienne), edited by Gauthier Delomez 06:09, December 02, 2022

The big unpacking continues in Saint-Étienne, to the great dismay of the inhabitants and elected officials of the city.

While he is entangled in a case of blackmail, the mayor Gaël Perdriau would have accused the regional president Laurent Wauquiez of "pedo-criminal" practices.

Thursday, 25 elected officials from the Loire demanded the departure of the mayor.

"But how far will it go?"

Stéphanois can no longer stand the revelations that follow one another on the practices of their mayor Gaël Perdriau.

Entangled in a case of alleged blackmail on the sextape, he is also pinned in a Mediapart investigation for his words on Laurent Wauquiez.

The mayor of Saint-Étienne would have accused the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, yet from the same political camp as him, of "pedo-criminal" practices to discredit him with one of his deputies.

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- "Mr. Perdriau, leave!"

: in Saint-Étienne, a municipal council under high tension

Europe 1 went to the Loire prefecture, where on Thursday, 25 elected officials from the department signed a text to ask Gaël Perdriau to resign.

"Practices a little bit rogue"

Locals are also exasperated by these revelations.

Slanderous remarks are inadmissible according to Alex, one of them.

"It's getting worse and worse, and I think it's just the beginning," he sighs.

"It's not possible, especially at this level of responsibility. We still manage a big city, these are a little bit rogue practices. We feel betrayed, dirty. It's not our way of seeing the life", reacts this Stéphanois to Europe 1.

Françoise shares this same feeling of disgust.

“I am very, very disappointed. He completely freaked out! What he said about Laurent Wauquiez … It goes a long way,” breathes this resident.

"We know very well that in politics, it's not pretty, but there frankly, it goes beyond the limits!"

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Wauquiez sues for defamation

Among the elected officials who demand the departure of the mayor is Jean-Pierre Taite, LR deputy and close to Laurent Wauquiez.

"It is not possible for a mayor to remain in place after having said such despicable things", he concedes to Europe 1. For him, "the mayor of Saint-Étienne must retire. I think that it would even be better for him if he got treatment because I think he fell into a form of madness, of illness".

I never imagined that an elected representative of the Republic could fall into such indignity.

Even if the person concerned was led to admit his abject lie, I seized the judicial authority and lodged a complaint for defamation against Mr. Perdriau.

https://t.co/rNjtsB1iZ9

— Laurent Wauquiez (@laurentwauquiez) November 30, 2022

As for Laurent Wauquiez, the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region has decided to file a complaint against Gaël Perdriau for defamation after the publication of the Mediapart investigation.