The government is going to lose one of its members. The Secretary of State for the Sea, Justine Benin, was indeed beaten on Saturday in the second round of the legislative elections in the 2nd constituency of Guadeloupe. She obtained 41.35% of the votes, behind Christian Baptiste (DVG), supported by Nupes, elected with 58.65% of the votes, announced the prefecture of Guadeloupe.
Justine Benin, outgoing MP, played her role in the government during this election. The executive had recalled before the vote that in the event of failure in the legislative elections the minister candidate should leave the government in accordance with an unwritten rule but already applied in 2017 by Emmanuel Macron.
Three out of four for Nupes
Questioned after her failure by radio RCI about her future within the government, the Secretary of State indicated on Saturday evening that “in the current state of affairs [elle n’avait] no response to this yet” and should be fixed “by Monday”. Christian Baptiste declared for his part in the local media that “the interest of Guadeloupe is not to remain in a vertical and brutal policy of Emmanuel Macron”.
Three of the four deputies elected in Guadeloupe – Olivier Serva, Christian Baptiste and Elie Califer – were supported by the alliance of left-wing parties Nupes during this election, marked by a very strong abstention with less than 28.23% of participation, against 30.65% in 2017.
In the first constituency, the outgoing deputy, Olivier Serva, ex-LREM and supported by LFI for the second round, was elected with 74.04%. He wants to create “an overseas group at the National Assembly” and “defend the reintegration of suspended caregivers”.
Max Mathiasin keeps his job
In the third constituency, the candidate of the National Rally, Rody Tolassy, failed to win a mandate as a deputy while it was in the archipelago that Marine Le Pen had won her best score (nearly 70%) during of the second round of the presidential election. With about “1,000 votes difference” thanks to “a local republican alliance” according to local media, outgoing deputy Max Mathiasin, without a label, who came in second in the first round, therefore finally won in this second round ( 52.12% of the vote).
In the fourth constituency, without suspense, Elie Califer, mayor (PS) of Saint-Claude was elected with 100% of the votes cast. He was the only candidate in the running after the withdrawal of his opponent Marie-Luce Penchard.