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Elected as a deputy, the leader of the Republicans will nevertheless continue to weigh on the governance of the region, where he is succeeded by Savoyard Fabrice Pannekoucke. The end of his mandate was marked by accusations of cronyism.
A complete unknown but a strategic choice: it is to Fabrice Pannekoucke, Les Républicains mayor of Moûtiers, a small town in Savoie (3,500 inhabitants) that Laurent Wauquiez will hand over his seat as president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, following a vote in plenary assembly this Thursday, September 5. The 49-year-old elected official, a councilor for the majority of Wauquiez since 2016, joined his executive six years later as tenth vice-president of the regional council in charge of agriculture and valley areas. This rank did not foreshadow his promotion, kept secret until the last moment.
The reasons lie elsewhere: Fabrice Pannekoucke has long been the head of the Cœur de Tarentaise community of communes (which includes part of the immense Trois Vallées ski area and its tourist factories of Val Thorens, Les Ménuires and Courchevel), as well as the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Tourisme regional agency. And it is in this capacity that this mountaineer, who started out in Hervé Gaymard’s office at the Savoie general council, has invested heavily in supporting the French Alps’ bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics, Wauquiez’s last great work to complete his regional reign.
Fantasy laboratory
Apart from this Olympic affinity, in line with the
