At the head of the city since 2001, François Rebsamen announces that he is leaving his position as mayor of Dijon

It's a bolt from the blue: this Monday, November 18, François Rebsamen announces that he is leaving his post as mayor, as of the next municipal council. The elected official will speak in more detail in the France 3 Bourgogne newspaper at 7:15 p.m.

No information had leaked. We learned on November 18 that François Rebsamen, the mayor of Dijon, will hand over his role as mayor of Dijon. “It will happen on Monday, at the next municipal council.”he declares to our colleagues from Public Good. His powers should be transferred to the first deputy, Nathalie Koenders, whose candidacy he will present.

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“When I look at the action accomplished, I consider that the time has come for me to transmit”, indicates the mayor in a press release sent around 5:30 p.m. He assures that his choice will “breathe democracy” et “will allow new talents to express themselves”.

François Rebsamen said he will specify the reasons and modalities of this unexpected departure on our antenna. He was the special guest of the France 3 Bourgogne newspaper, at 7:15 p.m. His interview can be found here.

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On the other hand, François Rebsamen will remain a municipal councilor. He also retains his position as president of Dijon Métropole, to which he wishes to join. “dedicate everything from now on”.

The news of this resignation is sudden but not entirely unexpected. The elected PS, now 73 years old, had implied this in an interview with Bien Public in July 2023. Asked about the possibility of leaving his place as mayor to his deputy Nathalie Koenders before the end of his mandate, François Rebsamen replied: “I will still be mayor at this point, as I might not be anymore.”

Immediately this Monday evening, the right-wing opposition reacted in a press release. Emmanuel Bichot, president of the Agir pour Dijon movement, accuses François Rebsamen of “discard at the moment when the municipality is caught up in its balance sheet, where the slates pile up and where all projects are slipping“. “A certain form of cowardice”reprimands the opponent, also speaking of a “sad end of reign”.

He attempts a final maneuver

Emmanuel Bichot

president of Agir pour Dijon

Emmanuel Bichot accuses the mayor of “renege on your promises” to complete his mandate. “While the record of his municipal team is increasingly contested by the people of Dijon, who want in-depth change, he is attempting a final maneuver to try to save this threatened majority and protect its backs.”

According to him, Nathalie Koenders or any other potential successor “will not have the legitimacy of the popular vote and will remain the puppet” by François Rebsamen.

Elected in 2001, François Rebsamen was socialist mayor of Dijon until 2014. François Rebsamen was also senator of the Côte-d'Or from 2008 to 2014, and president of the socialist group at the Palais du Luxembourg between 2011 and 2014.

From 2014 to 2015, he left his local functions and became Minister of Labor, Employment, Vocational Training and Social Dialogue in the successive governments of Manuel Valls, under the presidency of the Republic of François Hollande. It was then Alain Millot who took over the town hall of Dijon.

In 2015, after the death of Alain Millot who succumbed to cancer, François Rebsamen left Paris and took over the reins of the city of Dijon. A socialist by origin, François Rebsamen has since given his support to Emmanuel Macron.

In 2018, François Rebsamen, then aged 66, publicly announced that he was suffering from cancer. He steps back from his duties and entrusts the interim town hall to his deputy Nathalie Koenders. It is the first vice-president Pierre Pribetich who takes over the metropolis. François Rebsamen returns to his position a few months later.