It took two rounds of voting to elect five new municipal councilors in this Corbières commune. Due to a lack of candidates in the first round, a second will be organized this Sunday, May 5 and two applicants finally positioned themselves this Tuesday, April 30, a few hours before the closing of applications.
“It’s the times that want that. Fewer and fewer people are interested in it and that only brings trouble.” A fine connoisseur of municipal news in Tuchan, this resident of the commune of Corbières, a stone’s throw from the department of Pyrénées-Orientales, wants to be fatalistic while the 695 voters of the village will go to the polls again this Sunday, May 5 at the occasion of a municipal by-election.
For several weeks, doubt has hovered over the possibility of the municipal council being complete. Because following several resignations and a death, the number of elected officials is insufficient under the law, forcing the prefecture to organize a partial municipal election. The objective: to elect five new municipal councilors. But now, applications are rare. Only three for the first round on Sunday April 28, therefore requiring a second round this Sunday May 5. Finally on the gong, this Tuesday, April 30, the closing day of candidacies, two personalities launched into the municipal adventure, which, After the voters’ vote on May 5, will allow municipal democracy to function normally after several weeks uncertainties.
A crisis of commitment
“It’s a relief because it will be much more comfortable to share the work with fifteen people,” rejoices the mayor of Tuchan, Béatrice Bertrand. “There is a crisis of commitment, we see it on the ground, and there is reason to be worried about the next municipal elections in 2026. We absolutely must work to create vocations because there is goes to the survival of municipal democracy”, adds the elected official for whom this is her first term.
If in all likelihood it will be able to count on a full council this Monday, May 6, it also owes it to the commitment of two Tuchanais, nationals of the European Union, and who since 2001 can be elected within the municipal executive . After the last elections in 2020, there are nearly 2,700 Europeans in France participating in local political life.
