Two weeks away from Emmanuel Macron’s new trip to Marseille, where he presented a major plan for the city in early September, the question of compensation for state aid was invited to the city council on Friday.
At the opening of the debates, the socialist mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, called on the elected representatives of the different political currents to overcome their “differences”, at a time when “the city is probably in the process of inventing a new destiny”, after ” the historic visit ”of the Head of State for three days in the Phocaean city.
“A story written by the president for electoral purposes”
The President of the Republic had then presented a large plan for Marseille of 1.5 billion euros for security, schools, the fight against substandard housing, transport and hospitals. He is due to return in mid-October for a first stage point.
“We want to see in the visit of Emmanuel Macron an opportunity, a willingness of the State to support the second city of France”, greeted the representative of the opposition LR, Lionel Royer-Perreaut, while being surprised to certain “quid pro quo” requested.
“The president says he will drive the renovation policy. Driving is not accompanying, ”insisted the elected official. “We can clearly see that there is an attempt to reconcentrate the powers delegated to the communities. Making this type of announcement in the city of Gaston Defferre, father of decentralization, is not trivial, “he added, depicting Marseille elected officials as” extras in a story written by the president in electoral purposes ”.
“What matters is Marseille”
“The president has put forward hypotheses, ideas, which I do not share, which are not in my political DNA”, replied Benoît Payan: “Yes, the president has placed on the table a certain number of counterparts which are difficult. to swallow, ”he added, citing as an example“ the recruitment of teachers by school directors ”, which for him“ does not make sense ”.
But “he also asked for very harsh counterparts from the metropolis”, amused the city councilor, referring to the criticisms of the Head of State on the difficulty of the institution, led by Martine Vassal (LR), ” to support projects of metropolitan interest ”:“ But I am proud of the attention paid by the State to the city of Marseille and to the governance of the metropolis. What matters is Marseille, that we succeed in fabricating a great Republican catch-up, ”he insisted.
For the renovation of schools, “I proposed to the Head of State, for the sake of transparency, to create with him a company that I will chair. And when I hold a position, I do not make up the figure, ”he said.