Faced with controversy and accusations, he finally backed down. Still sure on Wednesday of having a good majority ready to support him within the metropolitan council, Gaël Perdriau finally backed down. The ex-LR mayor leaves the local political scene and puts himself in “total withdrawal” from his functions as president of the metropolis of Saint-Etienne. “I hear the need for some to see me take a step back … This is the reason why I made the decision to withdraw completely from the Metropolis”, said the ex-LR, before leaving the council metropolitan.
Half a dozen elected officials presented at the opening of the debates a “vow to impose that the morals and ethics of metropolitan councilors be respected”. “The judicial context weighs heavily on our Metropolis”, especially since “we witnessed with amazement an unprecedented attempt at press censorship”, says the text read in session, calling for a vote on his resignation.
A “media bombardment” led by Wauquiez?
“The judicial context weighs heavily on our Metropolis”, especially since “we witnessed with amazement an unprecedented attempt at press censorship”, says the text read in session, calling for a vote on his resignation. “Gaël Perdriau has lost all form of legitimacy to exercise a mandate, to keep him in his functions would be an insult (…) If he has a hint of dignity left, he must leave his mandates as soon as possible, it is the last service that he must render to the inhabitants before responding to justice”, continues the vow.
The mayor of Saint-Etienne and president of the Métropole, elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2020, has been at the heart of a judicial investigation for three months into the shooting and use of a sexual video in which we can see his centrist former first deputy Gilles Artigues being massaged by a man in a hotel room at the end of 2014. On Thursday, he again denounced a “media pounding” based on “illegal recordings” while underlining hostile ” that Laurent Wauquiez, the LR president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, leads according to him vis-à-vis the town hall and the Metropolis. His exclusion from LR was pronounced without even waiting for any legal action.