A new president for the Grand-Est region… and Alsace soon out?

Alsace soon independent of the Grand-Est? Since the resignation of Jean Rottner at the end of December, this refrain as old as the creation of new regions (2015) has become trendy again. Especially since the election of his successor last week, the Marnais Franck Leroy. Either the first leader to be from neither the Haut-Rhin nor the Bas-Rhin.

“It is not linked to his person but it could still further distance Alsatians from this large region with which they have never really identified”, analyzes the doctor of political sciences Bernard Schwengler. “So far, with [Philippe] Richert then Rottner, this could give them a certain legitimacy in the Great East. But that may now change. »

Frédéric Bierry hopes so. “People are starting to believe it. They no longer ask me if it will happen but when, ”assures 20 minutes the president of the European Community of Alsace (CeA). A claimed supporter of the split, he organized a citizen consultation on this exit last winter. Result: 92% of the almost 170,000 voters were in favor of it. Without this being, for the moment, followed by effects.

The former mayor of Schirmeck was in any case able to repeat these figures to Franck Leroy on Wednesday evening. For a first meeting during which the subject was obviously raised. “I invited him to our premises and we got to know each other to start off on a sound footing. We had a substantive exchange and I saw a man attentive to our stakes, even if that does not bode well,” indicates Frédéric Bierry, slipping a small attack on Jean Rottner in passing. “With him, I had the impression that the Alsatian approach was treated with contempt. »

Several bills tabled

Would the new president of the Grand-Est be more open to the dismemberment of his region? Not sure given his first words… “The vast majority of players, even in Alsace, consider that the stakes are elsewhere and that the perimeter of our region is no longer a subject” and that reducing it “would be a regression” , he said on Friday after his election.

“He has shown his teeth and if these positions are felt to be anti-Alsace, this could further accelerate the process. All the more so if the elected Alsatian members of the Republicans (LR) who until then supported Rottner all rally to the same cause, ”reacts the political scientist, also a member of the Observatory of political life in Alsace (Ovipal). Bernard Schwengler specifies if independence there must be, it will necessarily pass “by the vote of a law”.

Several proposals have already been submitted since last summer, whether by LR deputies, from the presidential majority, and the National Rally (RN). “It will all depend on their journey. They will not even necessarily be debated, ”underlines the specialist. But another deadline could make everyone agree: the study of a major decentralization law in 2024, a desire announced by Emmanuel Macron.

“There is a desire for institutional simplification in high places. It would clearly simplify the millefeuille, it would bring the inhabitants closer to the institutions because who no longer know who does what today… With the CeA, we have already created all these conditions”, insists Frédéric Bierry before concluding. “Alsace outside the Grand-Est is the meaning of history. »

source site