The centrist Franck Leroy new president of the Grand Est region

Europe 1 with AFP 2:07 p.m., January 13, 2023

Centrist Franck Leroy, supporter of Emmanuel Macron, succeeded Friday as president of the Grand Est region to LR Jean Rottner, who resigned at the end of December, immediately appearing as an opponent of "extremism" and "populist excesses" .

Franck Leroy, 60 years old since Thursday, who immediately announced that he was leaving his post as mayor of Epernay in the Marne, which he had held since 2000, won 96 votes against 34 for the other candidate, the RN Laurent Jacobelli .

A total of 169 voters took part in the ballot, which counted 38 invalid ballots and one blank.

Franck Leroy assured that his mandate would be that of "change in continuity", welcoming in passing his predecessor, Jean Rottner: "the regional majority has a mandate. This mandate, it comes from the regional elections of spring 2021. It will be respected “, he said in his speech after his election, which earned him a standing ovation from the majority.

"Under surveillance"

This centrist was the first vice-president of the region and occupied the interim since the departure of Jean Rottner, left to join the consulting firm and real estate developer Réalités, a resignation which aroused a shower of criticism from regional elected officials.

Spokesperson for the RN and deputy for Moselle, Laurent Jacobelli presented his "Republican congratulations" to him while warning him: "You are a president under surveillance".

Franck Leroy appears as a determined opponent of the far right, and poses as a defender of the regional economic fabric.

"I will forcefully fight all extremism and populist excesses that weaken our democracy," he said in his speech after his election.

While the merger within the Grand Est of the former Alsace, Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne regions is regularly contested, he refuses the bill drafted by 10 right-wing and center deputies for a return to a full-fledged Alsace region.

"Regression"

"The vast majority of players, even in Alsace, consider that the stakes are elsewhere and that the perimeter of our region is no longer a subject" and that reducing it "would be a regression", he declared on Friday. .

He is 60 years old, married and has three children.

A graduate in law and from Sciences Po Paris, he began his career as deputy to the general manager of services for the former Champagne-Ardenne region.

In 2000, he became mayor of Epernay following Bernard Stasi, whose deputy he had become.

Member of Horizons, the formation of the former Prime Minister of Emmanuel Macron, Edouard Philippe, he did not renew his membership to "reassure" certain elected officials of his majority.

On December 20, Jean Rottner (LR) announced that he was leaving public life and retiring from "all of (his) mandates" due to "family imperatives".

A few days later, he announced that he would join the consulting firm and real estate developer Réalités.

Listed on the stock exchange, this company presents itself as "a territorial development group", carrying out real estate projects such as the extension of the Bauer stadium in Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), with the Banque des Territoires, or the development of a new district in Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor).

This recruitment provoked strong reactions from the elected representatives of the regional council, some pointing to a risk of conflict of interest, others seeing it as an attack on the political line of the region and the sincerity of the regional election of June 2021. .

The local press also revealed that Jean Rottner held a consulting position from October 2019 to March 2022, for a firm of headhunters of which the Grand Est region was also a client.

A complaint against X has been filed with the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) in this context by the association AC!!

Anti Corruption.

Jean Rottner, 55, a former emergency doctor, succeeded Philippe Richert in 2017, himself resigning.