Who will be the next mayor of Marseille? Since Sunday evening, the inhabitants of Marseille have been in the most complete uncertainty. In this bastion of the right, where Jean-Claude Gaudin has always won in one round since 1995, the one he had dubbed, Martine Vassal, bit the dust. In the second round, Michèle Rubirola, the candidate for the Union of the Left came out on top with 39.9% of the vote.
But despite its 13,000 votes in advance, the head of the Marseille Spring environmental list has "only" 42 seats out of 101. A relative majority, which forces it to form alliances if it wants to be elected during the famous "third tour ”, Saturday, at the installation session of the municipal council. Who are the protagonists of this extraordinary ballot? The Parisian takes stock.
Michèle Rubirola
Starting from scratch with her Printemps Marseille, this 63-year-old environmental activist, doctor in the northern districts, had created surprise in the first round by arriving in the lead, with one point more than her rival LR. After widening the gap in the inter-lap, she offered herself eight points ahead of Sunday's poll.
But despite this large score in the polls, this mother of three children will not necessarily be the next mayor of Marseille, for lack of having won an absolute majority at the municipal council. The former female player of Olympique de Marseille, with Catalan and Italian origins, is therefore required to seek alliances.
But this Friday at midday, Michèle Rubirola refused the request of Samia Ghali, who required the chair of first assistant. "I will not be hostage to any blackmail," retorted dryly the candidate of the union of the left. A new twist in a campaign that has not failed.
✊ All together, we can do great things to defend the interests of all Marseillais, without exception.
We officially call Samia Ghali and these running mats to join us in an alliance of projects, and in the executive.https: //t.co/aWIyayAg10
Martine Vassal
It is she whom Jean-Claude Gaudin, after 25 years of reign without division, had designated to succeed him. But after a campaign sealed by the investigation opened into suspicions of proxy fraud, Martine Vassal, the president of the metropolis and the department of Bouches-du-Rhône, was laminated.
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Beaten in her own sector, that of the 8th and 9th arrondissements, reputed to be "captive", she failed to rally her camp. Monday, the ex-LR Bruno Gilles, whose dissenting list obtained three seats, had promised that he would not "vote" for Martine Vassal. It therefore ended up giving way to Guy Teissier, 75, from the ranks of the hard right. Especially since in the event of a tie in the third round on Saturday, the oldest wins.
Guy teissier
[A LA UNE AT 9 PM]
Thunderbolt in the race for the succession of Jean-Claude Gaudin in Marseille: barely a few hours after the withdrawal of Martine Vassal in favor of deputy Guy Teissier, a second elected LR, Lionel Royer-Perreaut , announced his candidacy #AFP 4/5 pic.twitter.com/32u0on8E5K
At LR, nobody hides that it is largely a question of age which motivated the withdrawal of the race from Martine Vassal, in favor of the deputy Guy Teissier. This old driver of local politics - member of the Bouches-du-Rhône for 27 years, mayor of the sector for 18 years, ex-president of the Marseille-Provence urban community - is seen as the candidate for the rally.
In his youth, he campaigned for the far right party in the New Forces Party. Which leads the left to suspect that this choice was made to seduce the National Rally (RN), which, with 20.30% of the vote, managed to elect nine municipal councilors. "It is not written on the ballots," said Guy Tessier, asked about the position he would adopt in the event of a victory thanks to elected RNs.
With the return to the LR fold of dissident Bruno Gilles (3 seats of councilors), the right hopes to be on par with the left bloc, with 42 votes each. But the entry into the arena of a new protagonist shattered these calculations.
Lionel Royer-Perreault
To further complicate the matter, just hours after Martine Vassal's retirement, a second elected LR announced his candidacy: Lionel Royer-Perreault, the dolphin and successor to the town hall of ... Guy Tessier.
Ensuring that he had no contact with Martine Vassal before she announced her withdrawal, the man who comfortably kept the 9th-10ths invoked his refusal of a possible "alliance strategy with the National Front", today today National rally.
This Friday, Lionel Royer-Perreaut canceled the press conference he was to hold. With a simple SMS sent to AFP as an explanation: "I have nothing more to say than what I have been saying since yesterday [Thursday] evening".
Samia Ghali
With her eight elected representatives, she is the one who holds the keys to the election. While right and left make him blinkers, Samia Ghali, 52, re-elected Sunday in her popular sector of the north of the city, came out of her silence this Friday. "I asked Michèle Rubirola to be her first assistant," announced in a press release this daughter of Algerian immigrants who grew up in the northern districts of Marseille.
"Create the conditions for a gathering that I wish for."
My statement following my meeting with @MicheleRubirola last night. #MunicipalesMarseille pic.twitter.com/cZK8w8fUI4
A proposal to which Michèle Rubilora opposed an inadmissibility. Faced with this refusal, Samia Ghali could well flirt with the right, which promises him mountains and wonders in view of the senatorials. Especially since the campaign has left its mark. In particular, the decision of Printemps Marseille to maintain a list against it until the end, causing a triangular with the RN.
“They despised her and treated her with great arrogance. Sunday evening, she proved to them that she was essential. Now, they have every interest in respecting it and discussing it with a little more humility, because it has all the cards in hand, "slipped in Le Figaro Julien Rossi, head of the list of Samia Ghali in the 13th and 14th arrondissements.
For her part, Martine Vassal did not fail to remind Samia Ghali that she had withdrawn her list in the 8th sector of the city, where the senator was re-elected on Sunday.
Stéphane Ravier
🖋️ Withdrawal from Martine Vassal: the start of a new era for Marseille?
I call for the formation of a “Marseilles Pact” so that the far left does not fall on our city.
My press release ⬇️https: //t.co/uuyHUOLINA
Faced with a tearing right, the National Rally of Stéphane Ravier in Marseille called the right, Thursday evening, to an anti-Spring Marseille pact "so that the most sectarian far left does not fall on our city" .
"This pact can bring together men and women of good will, rid of all ideology and sectarian spirit, in the service of our city", pleads the candidate of the RN, who lost his town hall in the 13th and 14th arrondissements of Marseille on Sunday evening. A change of gear for the one who, a short time ago, still claimed that he would refuse any rapprochement with "those who made Marseille sink".
"There will never be an alliance with the National Front, Never!" "Martine Vassal immediately ranted, laughing" the indecency of this far-right elected official, who always flirts between irresponsibility and provocation ". Even scathingly divided on the side of Renaud Muselier, LR president of the Provence-Alpes Côte d'Azur region: “In democracy, for Marseille, all discussions are desirable with a view to bringing together for a future project. All but one: negotiate with the RN! "
