The mayor of Moutiers, Fabrice Pannekoucke (LR), will take over as president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional council following the resignation of Laurent Wauquiez.
We know the successor of Laurent Wauquiez. The Republican mayor of Moûtiers (Savoie) Fabrice Pannekoucke will soon take over the presidency of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, BFM Lyon has learned, confirming information from Dauphiné Libéré and La Montagne.
Asked by one of our journalists about this announcement, Fabrice Pannekoucke laconically explained that he will have “plenty of things to say” starting this Thursday.
Fabrice Pannekoucke was previously vice-president of the regional council in charge of agriculture. He must now be elected by the other regional councillors in a vote that will take place this Thursday, September 5th starting at 10am.
According to information from BFM Lyon, Laurent Wauquiez, who had to resign after his election as deputy of Haute-Loire by virtue of the law on the non-accumulation of mandates, is bringing together the elected representatives of his group this Wednesday evening for a dinner in the Confluence district of Lyon, to explain his choice.
“It doesn’t come out of nowhere”
The identity of Laurent Wauquiez’s successor was kept secret until the last moment. The elected representatives of the right-wing majority were not even kept informed of the behind-the-scenes negotiations.
Even MP Stéphanie Pernod, first vice-president and expected to run for president, discovered it during a meeting with the other elected officials this Wednesday: “We knew from the start that Laurent would be the one to choose. There was no debate about justifying his choice. I think that if he had offered it to me, I would have accepted it, but you know the best way to get a position is to win it and it was Laurent Wauquiez who won the election in 2021, so he is the one who chooses who succeeds him.”
However, this has given rise to fears among some elected officials who do not know whether they will keep their delegation.
Fabrice Pannekoucke, “he is someone who knows politics. He does not come out of nowhere. He was chief of staff to Hervé Gaymard”, president of the Savoie departmental council, reacts to BFM Lyon Pierre Oliver, LR mayor of the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, who also praises a “man of files and field” with “a profile very well placed with farmers”.
“His connection and attachment to the mountains is a real plus in view of the 2030 Olympic Games,” he says.
Few doubts about the election of Fabrice Pannekoucke
The election to the regional council seems already a given for Fabrice Pannekoucke: the Les Républicains/various right group is in the majority with 118 seats out of 204 and can count on the support of its allies in the UDI/Centre group, which has 16 elected representatives.
The Left and the Rally have announced that they will present candidates for the presidency of the region: the co-president of the environmental group Maxime Meyer will be the sole candidate on the left, and the councillor Andréa Kotarac, also a deputy for Ain, will be a candidate for the RN.
Hugo Francés, Arthur Blet and Marianne Rey
