« J’I suffered a lot. I have been shocked, throughout the last few years, by the rupture between the base of French society and those in power. » François Bayrou, the new Prime Minister, uttered these words on December 16 during the municipal council of Pau, a city of which he chose to remain mayor, despite his appointment as head of government. He subsequently spoke of this “glass wall” which fuels “a deep distrust of the political world, all parties combined”.
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This speech sparked controversy in the opposition. If ministers are not forced to do so, the latest law on the subject, dating from 2014, prohibits a parliamentarian (deputy or senator) from being mayor, president of a departmental council or a regional assembly at the same time. Nonsense for the president of the Association of Rural Mayors of France, Michel Fournier. According to INSEE, in 2017, 30,775 French municipalities are rural. They represent 32.8% of the French population.
The Point: During the Pau municipal council, the new Prime Minister, François Bayrou, spoke of the non-cumulation of mandates which is, according to him, “an error”. What do you think about it as president of the Association of Rural Mayors of France?
Michel Fournier : Rural mayors believe that the non-cumulation of mandates, as it was established, was a fundamental error. Some elected officials no longer have this essential knowledge of the field. The question is not the accumulation.
But to be able to be a representative in the National Assembly or the Senate, it is a real asset to exercise or have exercised a local mandate, so as to no longer find yourself disconnected from reality.
Moreover, before François Bayrou, Michel Barnier had addressed the issue, just like Richard Ferrand when he was president of the National Assembly. Everyone regrets it. Some bills are completely disconnected from the rurality we experience on the ground.
Do you have any examples illustrating this disconnect?
There are so many… There have been recent improvements, but the first National Assembly elected under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron was a disaster. It’s very easy to have what we once called “shoes”. But at a given moment: if we have not been mayor, if we have not been deputy, if we have not had local responsibility – this is valid at other levels, departments or regional –, if we has not lived this daily life with the obligation to make decisions, to say no, to find solutions, we realize that we are forming a generation of disconnected elected officials. This is also valid for ministers! Unless you show dogmatism, the vast majority of elected officials will tell you that this knowledge of local life is fundamental to carrying out their mission.
ALSO READ Rurality plan: rural mayors waitingLet’s take the example of “Zero net artificialization” (ZAN). I am in favor of it, in its conception as protection of agricultural land, but also to ensure that existing buildings are rehabilitated and upgraded in many villages. But let us prevent any form of local development… What do we do with villages populated by farmers who have land and who have children? They can no longer build new housing… This seems inconceivable. Afterwards, people come to ask me why certain citizens end up falling back on protest votes.
Does this non-cumulation directly impact you in your mandate as a local elected official?
I have been mayor since 1989 [des Voivres, dans les Vosges, NDLR]. I have thirty-five years of experience as mayor. I have always been elected in the first round. Each time with a list of opposition, which is not always the same. Democracy is also that: we get along, then we no longer get along according to this or that project. There is life. But I remain mayor of everyone: I make no difference and all citizens are treated the same way, whether they voted for me or not. We have a duty to be impartial and to ensure that society functions as best as possible.
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Answer
When Mathilde Panot, president of the La France insoumise group in the National Assembly, evokes a “fundamental disagreement” with François Bayrou on the question of non-cumulative mandates, do you consider that she is showing disconnection?
It’s such an easy posture to bawl like that, forever, about everything. I don’t know his personal life, but there are many times when it is necessary to adopt a slightly more conciliatory attitude. Whatever the postures, right or left, they are not worthy of national representation.
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