In the very right-wing canton-city of Neuilly-sur-Seine, the outcome of the departmental elections is more than predictable.
But in the former stronghold of Nicolas Sarkozy, where the same personalities have been bickering for more than ten years, the ballot may have the virtue of definitively turning a page.
The mayor (DVD) Jean-Christophe Fromantin, reelected last March in the first round of municipal elections with 60.2% of the vote, is a candidate in pairs with the outgoing departmental councilor Alexandra Fourcade.
But in front of them, no candidacy stamped LR and no more LREM pair.
If the mayor without a label wishes to sit again in Nanterre, a mandate he had already fulfilled in 2011-2012 before being elected deputy, it is to be part of the LR-UDI majority. There is no question of going it alone. "There is a real coherence and a complementarity city-department", underlines Jean-Christophe Fromantin, who campaigns, like very many mayors of Hauts-de-Seine on this theme. "These elections are indeed the occasion to give the mayors a maximum of means so that they are even more effective", he continues.
Among the concerns of the mayor-candidate: the place de Neuilly, strategically located between Paris and the business district of La Défense.
“We are the link,” he emphasizes.
And planning issues are very important ”.
According to him, "the new organization of offices since the start of the crisis" generates new challenges, "which will not be without consequences for the entire ecosystem".
A subject all the more crucial as the Hauts-de-Seine department recovered in January 2018 - via the creation of a new public establishment - the competence for the development and management of the business district.
A dissenting list to the right and the left united
As in every election, Jean-Christophe Fromantin will have to deal with a right-wing “dissenting” list. "Part of the right-wing opposition to the city council under a different cast," he points out, about the pair formed by Benoît Aguelon and Delphine Bourdon-Lavallée. The latter was indeed on the list of Florence Mourin-Fournier, LR candidate for municipal elections and the tandem is supported by Dov Zerha, opposition municipal councilor.
"We have a different approach and we want to prepare for the future", retorts Benoît Aguelon, who points out "the shortcomings in terms of security". A theme that does not fall within the competence of the department but that the candidate addresses from the point of view of the colleges. "We want to install cameras around establishments and create a canine unit to control access and fight against drugs," he continues. Regarding the mayor's candidacy, he believes “that we cannot be in the oven and in the mill”.
If Neuilly has 80% of right-wing voters according to the last elections, the left-wing parties have decided to unite to make another voice heard.
"We display our political convictions in a department, which has an extravagant budget surplus of half a billion euros while many inhabitants are in difficulty", pleads Dominique Préhu (PS), who teams up with Jean-Baptiste Puiggali (EELV).
They also campaign on environmental issues.
“Despite the proximity of the Bois de Boulogne, the air quality is appalling, deplores the socialist candidate.
The Pont de Neuilly station is one of the most polluted and Neuilly suffers from traffic jams on the platforms and on Avenue Charles-de-Gaulle.
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Identity record
Canton of Neuilly
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inhabitants: 59,940, voters: 35,645
The outgoing.
Alexandra Fourcade and Olivier Larmurier (LR)
The results of the 1st round in 2015
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Pierre-Adrien Babeau / Alexandra Fourcade (UD): 63.5% (elected).
Franck Keller-Michèle Schleiffer (DVD): 14%;
Jean-Christophe Comet-Françoise Debrossard (FN): 11.1%;
Marie Brannens-Benoît Vienot (PS) 7.5;
François Charlery-Marion Rothman (EELV): 3.8%.
The candidates
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Myriam Celnik and Dimitry Missourkine (RN);
Benoît Aguelon and Delphine Bourdon-Lavallée (DVD);
Alexandra Fourcade and Jean-Christophe Fromantin (DVD);
Dominique Préhu and Jean-Baptiste Puiggali (PS-EELV);
Carole Gallozzi and Marc Lesteven (DIV).