There is no longer a mayor in Garancières. Christian Lorinquer (DVD) has just submitted his resignation. The elected official of this Yvelines commune of 2,400 inhabitants, close to Thoiry and La Queue-lez-Yvelines, distributed a leaflet in mailboxes to warn them of this.
“This decision was not easy but the conditions of serenity necessary for the successful accomplishment of this task were no longer met. So I learned the consequences,” he writes. New elections must take place before July 7.
A former teacher, Christian Lorinquer had been elected since 1989. Although he did not respond to our requests for an interview to explain himself, the former mayor had suffered several resignations in his majority. He also faced criticism from environmental defense associations. In recent weeks, three of them – Jade, Sauvons les Yvelines and Eparche – had even initiated proceedings with the administrative court.
Illegal constructions denounced by the opposition
They wanted to point out the inaction of the municipality in the face of the increase in illegal construction. “These constructions are carried out on agricultural land and in natural areas and they involve earthworks and tree cutting. They have reached an unbearable level,” explains the member of one of these associations. A bailiff’s report had recently been carried out at the entrance to these plots.
Doubtful about the link between the two events, the opposition prefers to remain cautious about the reasons for its departure. “We were all surprised by the news and today we would like to know the reasons,” confides Ghislaine Lesade-Liboutton, opposition municipal councilor.
Christian Lorinquer is not the first to leave office in full mandate. In recent months, several of his counterparts have preceded him. In Bois-d’Arcy, Philippe Benassaya (LR) found his scarf on April 21, two months after the resignation of Jean-Philippe Luce (UDI) for “professional reasons”. In Bonnelles, in the south of Yvelines, it was a crisis within the majority which precipitated the change of municipality and the election of Nathalie Couëdor (without a label) in March.
Fatigue and health concerns for others
But for the other resigners, particularly last year, it was a matter of leaving “at the right time”, mid-term, in order to give their designated successor time to prepare for the 2026 municipal elections. This was the case in Épône, near Mantes-la-Jolie, where Guy Muller (LR), “tired”, had passed the torch to Ivica Jovic (LR), his first deputy following an exceptional municipal council.
Same scenario in Buchelay, in the Mantaise region. Stéphane Tremblay, “foal” of Paul Martinez (UDI), inherited the chair of chief magistrate in February 2023, almost mid-term. A few months earlier, the 3,000 inhabitants of Porcheville had seen Didier Martinez (SE), victim of “health problems”, replaced by his deputy for works Alec Jaltier.
At the national level, since the 2020 municipal elections, “the threshold of 1,000 resigning mayors has been exceeded” according to the estimates of David Lisnard, the president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) and LR mayor of Cannes. In an interview with Le Figaro, a year ago, he lamented that “this trend is even faster than during the previous mandate, during which departures had already doubled”.
