After battle, Marseille, the first woman, was elected mayor

(ANSA) - PARIS, JULY 4 - After a week of battle at the last vote - to win the "big voters" necessary to elect the first citizen among the municipal councils of the arrondissement - Michèle Rubirola has become Mayor of Mariglia today. She succeeds Jean-Claude Gaudin and is the first woman to rule the large port city of southern France. LaRubirola, 63, was able to conquer the primacittadina chair after a week of arm wrestling between political forces and last-minute negotiations. Opposite was GuyTessier, representative of the right of the Républicains.
   At the beginning, the newly elected mayor, representative of the "Primavera Marsigliese" movement (left and ecologists) and medical officer, had only the support of 42 councilors out of 101 but in the end she was able to be elected thanks to the 8votes of a list of the former socialist Samia Ghalia. The electoral system of municipal elections - proportional, list, two rounds with majority prize - provides for a separate procedure in France for the 3 cities with the most inhabitants, Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Here you do not elect the winning list (with leaders who become mayor) but you vote for constituencies, each represented by an arrondissement (for Paris and Lyon) or two (Marseille). You can apply for a single election constituency. The first elected officials on each list acquire the right to sit on the city council and their first act is to elect the mayor. (ANSA).