Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, on May 5, 2021 in Avignon. – CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP
- Gérald Darmanin is the candidate of the outgoing center-right majority in the departmental elections of the North.
- The minister presents himself in pairs with the current mayor of Tourcoing, Doriane Bécue.
- What is the minister’s interest in running for a departmental mandate?
It’s official. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin is a candidate for departmental elections in the canton of Tourcoing. He presents himself in pairs with Doriane Bécue, mayor of the city. If nothing legally prevents this dual function, combining a mandate of minister and a campaign for the departmental elections requires devoting time to it.
Isn’t the Interior Minister’s agenda incompatible with his ambitions in Tourcoing? “Less than a year from the presidential elections … In view of the campaign that awaits us, there will in any case be no door to door and no meeting, underlines an elected LREM of Hauts-de-France. So that limits things. “If the law authorizes a minister to run for a mandate of departmental councilor,” it is up to the voters to choose whether a minister can be elected locally “, continues the walker.
A question of notoriety?
Katy Vuylesker is a candidate for a reunified left in the departmental department of Tourcoing. She evokes “narcissism” and the recurring absences of the Minister of the Interior. “Mr. Darmanin is used to holding multiple mandates and not sitting. He is never present. Do we really need a Minister of the Interior who multiplies the mandates? I don’t think so, by dint of wanting to be everywhere, he’s nowhere ”.
The notoriety of the Minister of Place Beauvau could play a role. “Gérald Darmanin is free to be a candidate, but I think he feels obliged to do so to keep the department on the right and ensure victory in several cantons”, supports Ugo Bernalicis, deputy for the North La France Insoumise, while specifying “to wish his defeat”.
In 2020, the Minister of the Interior was elected mayor of Tourcoing, with a high abstention rate (75%) before leaving his post in August of the same year. Bis repetita?