Elected in 2020 on Yves Nicolin’s municipal list, Mahdi Nouibat asked to be relieved of his delegation, explaining to the last council that he was no longer aligned with the municipal majority. A divergence which has even become more accentuated in recent days, with the Roanne elected official becoming campaign director of the New Popular Front locally… A positioning which definitively marks the political sidestep.
Intense week for Mahdi Nouibat, who in a few days went from member of the majority group to dissident, even becoming campaign director of the New Popular Front…
As he explained last Wednesday, June 12 to the mayor, the elected official, who is assuming his first mandate, had wished to be relieved of his delegation in charge of vulnerable populations and relations with social partners.
“I was able to express myself, but I don’t feel like I was heard”
“After a few years of practice in the majority, I lost hope in my ability to change things,” he explained on the evening of the last municipal council. “When I entered politics, I had an idea that was perhaps too idealistic, telling myself that it was full of exchanges and listening. I was able to express myself, but I don’t feel like I was heard. I have not been able to change certain things and I no longer accept it,” he analyzed that evening, indicating “no longer aligned with the method”. A divergence of view on the form therefore.
The advisor explained in particular that he was particularly marked by the episode of the eviction of Sandra Creuzet-Taite from the post of 12 e vice-president of the Agglo. He had also stood as a candidate, to everyone’s surprise, that day, indicating that he wanted to “keep democracy alive”, but did not express any “distrust” towards the president and mayor Yves Nicolin. .
However, there are obviously serious questions about fundamental differences… On several issues, Mahdi Nouibat regrets a lack of consultation. “Not on everything, but on certain essential subjects.” And to put forward the example of the lighting of the city hall in the colors of Israel a few months ago, following the attack on the country by Hamas. But also the positioning on security issues, with the elected official wanting an effort in terms of prevention… “On these subjects, decisions were taken unilaterally,” he believes.
“I will continue to shake everyone’s hand”
Mahdi Nouibat intends to continue serving on the council until the end of the mandate. “I was elected by the residents, it’s important to follow through,” he notes, hoping to gain a certain “freedom of speech”. And to imagine now exchanging with all the elected representatives of the opposition, “it would be beneficial to all. But I will continue to shake everyone’s hand.”
A rapprochement towards the left of the council which has clearly strengthened since last Friday, the day when Mahdi Nouibat became campaign director of the New Popular Front, again to everyone’s surprise. “There was a concomitance between my municipal decision-making and national events. Something extremely dangerous is happening for our country, a loss of direction that is frightening. And at some point, you have to go there and commit,” he explains. Asked by the NFP, Mahdi Nouibat, explaining that he carries left-wing values, agreed to don this new hat.
Info plus. On the sidelines of the last municipal council, the mayor indicated that another departure was looming from the municipal assembly this time, without wanting to give a name. “It will not be a political or moral departure, it will not be provoked and it will be a sadness”, simply slips the chief magistrate, referring to “a rather family obligation”.
The unexpected campaign director of the New Popular Front
Mahdi Nouibat says he did not hesitate for long when he was asked to take on, in an emergency, the role of campaign director of the New Popular Front.
For him, the situation is serious and mobilization is essential. It’s a commitment that doesn’t go unnoticed. To coordinate the logistical aspect of this express campaign, the NFP contacted the elected representative of Roanne, who was still included until last Thursday in the ranks of the majority of mayor LR Yves Nicolin (read on page 25). “At first, I was cautious and then everything happened very quickly,” says the main person concerned, evoking a “shock of temporality” between his resignation from his delegation from the Roanne council and national political events.
“Some may have asked questions about my legitimacy. At the local level, I tried to move the lines, without success. Today, something extremely dangerous is happening in France. I see in this NFP a hypercoherent, very strong dynamic. In this group, we say things to each other, we discuss strongly, we exchange ideas, even in the event of disagreements.”
For the new activist, “at some point you have to get involved. We cannot say that it does not work and do nothing,” analyzes the man who says he is driven by left-wing values and the desire to act above all “for the common good”. “I get involved because it is a necessity, not a priesthood. The moment is difficult and we have no choice,” he insists.
Yves Nicolin: “Disappointed to be betrayed today”
Yves Nicolin does not hide his bitterness.
Mahdi Nouibat’s change of heart made Yves Nicolin react strongly, hiding neither his astonishment nor his disappointment. In council, before learning of his elected official’s commitment to the NFP, the mayor indicated that he understood and accepted “the frustrations”: “For 6 years, with 39 people on a council, there are necessarily divergences of views, that’s what makes municipal wealth, points of view not always aligned”, he analyzed, estimating then “that there was no will on either side of prevent the smooth running of the mandate.” An analysis that the mayor has reviewed in light of recent events.
“From now on, he is subject to the Rebels”
“I am particularly disappointed with his attitude, which was not sincere, to have placed my trust in him and to be betrayed today,” he told Le Pays this Wednesday. “He indicated that he wanted to leave the majority to regain a certain freedom, but it is clear that this independence only lasted a few hours! From now on, he is subject to the Insoumis”, decides the mayor, estimating that the elected official “lied to all the colleagues of the majority when he committed himself in 2020. He had prepared his coup. He is a liar and a traitor. But it does not matter. There are many other elected officials who are faithful and with real convictions.”
