"Family imperatives animate this heavy decision", which is "maturely considered", declared in a press release the elected Alsatian, former mayor of Mulhouse.

Mr. Rottner, 55, had been at the head of the Grand Est since 2017, when he succeeded Philippe Richert, who resigned.

He was then elected in 2021.

The first vice-president of the Grand Est region, Franck Leroy, will act as interim manager for this new region, which since 2015 has brought together Alsace, Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne.

Mr. Leroy is the current mayor of Epernay (Marne).

By leaving "all of (his) mandates by the end of the year", Jean Rottner also renounces his mandate as first deputy to Michèle Lutz, the mayor of Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin), who had succeeded him to this function when he became regional president.

"Jean Rottner was driven by a high sense of the general interest", reacted Carole Delga, PS president of the Occitanie region and president of "Regions of France".

On Monday, Jean Rottner had again accompanied the general manager of the car manufacturer Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, to the Moselle plant in Trémery, highlighting on Twitter, where he was very active, the place of the Grand Est in national car production.

Alsace vs Great East

The election of Eric Ciotti at the head of LR ten days ago had spread the rumor of a possible departure from his party of Jean Rottner, who has always managed the dialogue with the macronists and whose name has several times circulated as a potential minister.

Nevertheless, loyal to LR, he had refused any alliance in the regional elections with Brigitte Klinkert, ex-LR also from Alsace engaged under the Macronist corridors.

In the presidential election, he was also part of Valérie Pécresse's campaign team.

Jean Rottner's entry into politics dates back to 2001 when he became an opposition municipal councilor in Mulhouse, a city then led by the socialist Jean-Marie Bockel.

In 2007, the election of Nicolas Sarkozy constituted a springboard: the new president brought Bockel into the government in the name of "openness".

Dismissed in 2008, Bockel included Rottner on his list for the municipal elections and then gave him his chair as mayor in 2010.

Jean Rottner, on the left, former UMP first deputy to the mayor of Mulhouse, receives the mayor's sash from his predecessor Jean-Marie Bockel, in the center, who resigned after 21 years in office, on May 17, 2010 in Mulhouse © SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP /Archives

In 2017, it was again a resignation, that of Philippe Richert, which allowed him to take the helm of the Grand Est region, which earned him harsh criticism in Alsace, where most right-wing elected officials, and him -even at first, were opposed to the constitution of this large region.

Jean Rottner then became a fervent defender of this great region, refusing to support attempts to restore Alsace's "independence" from the Grand Est.

"Everyone knows my opinion about the Grand Est. And I have never changed my position on this subject. (...) But I have never confused the institution and the men who run it. I have always had a lot of esteem for Jean Rottner", reacted the mayor of Colmar, Eric Straumann.

"But as long as Alsace does not leave the Grand Est, its presidency will be an impossible exercise. (...) We must now review the outline of this too large region", he has already launched .

Lacking notoriety having arrived at the head of the region without an election at first, Jean Rottner has greatly gained in stature with the Covid-19 crisis, which propelled him into the spotlight at the same time as one of the first outbreaks were reported in Mulhouse, his home town.

Lending a hand in the regulation of the Samu during the first wave of the epidemic, he quickly turned into a whistleblower, warning the Elysée of hospital tension, struggling to recover masks and tests or launching a business support funds.

© 2022 AFP