Karim Bouamrane, mayor on the move – Libération

The socialist mayor of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, north of Paris, who has assumed his ambition since his name was mentioned for Matignon this summer, will launch his political movement in his city on October 3, at the Bauer stadium, that of the legendary Red Star.

At first, some think it’s an automatic message, others a joke. Every year, the 2,000 municipal employees of Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis) receive a happy birthday from the mayor, Karim Bouamrane. The socialist knows all the faces of his city. He knows where his constituents go on vacation, how their children’s studies are progressing. On vacation, wherever he goes, he always introduces himself to the mayor. With a warmth that leaves nothing to chance, he meets people, remembers first names, and establishes a closeness. A character who assumes his ambition and wants to write his legend.

Few people knew Karim Bouamrane when his name was mentioned among the possible candidates for Matignon this summer. For a long time, the media paid no attention to this socialist mayor of the inner suburbs, who has been transforming his city since his election in 2020. Gaspard Gantzer, however, tried. François Hollande’s former communications officer met Karim Bouamrane four years ago. “I had a kind of political love at first sight, it had never happened to me, the guy has incredible charisma, there are no two like him, he is outside all the boxes,” he says. Bouamrane, he says to himself, could be president of the Republic. “It must be.” For the past four years, every time he meets a journalist, Gantz