PLANS ON THE COMET The presidential majority plan for Paris begins to unfold with a primary objective: to change the voting system
The Renaissance ministers of Paris: Clément Beaune, Olivia Grégoire and Stanislas Guerini. — Ludovic MARIN/CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP
- The municipal elections of 2026 are still a long way off, but the presidential majority is already starting to sharpen its weapons.
- First objective: to change the mode of vote, which the macronie finds too favorable to the left.
- Second objective: to start thinking about the Parisian issues.
It’s not just for the presidential election that the parties are set up four years ago; advance. At the end of 2022, the Parisian municipal elections of 2026 are already agitating the staffs, in particular on the majority presidential. It’s Marlène Schiappa, the Secretary of State in charge of Social and Solidarity Economy and Associative Life, who somehow spilled the beans in an interview with < em>Figaro. Not only is she positioning herself to play a role in four years, but she is unveiling the first floor of the Macronist strategy: a change in the voting system. The majority considers that the current rules are unfavorable to him.
“The track of a law in 2023 is seriously considered,” ; 20 Minutesa government source. The most probable hypothesis: that the Council of Paris is elected at the scale of the entire city. Today, councilors are elected by borough. The method of calculation would be the same as at present, and in force in all cities with more than 1,000 inhabitants: the winning list automatically obtains 50% of the seats in play, the rest being distributed to the proportional between all the lists having obtained more than 5%; which ensures a large majority to a list that came out on top, even far from 50%. Macronists find it more just to delight “directly” the mayor (yet it would still be an indirect election) and simpler (whereas it would now require two ballot boxes, one for the Council of Paris, one for the district council, against only one today) .
A now structural advantage for the left
The reason is actually more political. After having been Disadvantaged for a very long time by this method of voting, the left is today more difficult to win over. beat given //the sociological evolution of the Parisian population. For she holds her eastern strongholds firmly, so that it seems improbable to short deadline, to see her lose the 10th, 11th, 13th, 18th, 19th or 20th. And that’s a lot of seats. The Parisian municipal election is in fact mainly played out in three sectors: the center (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th), the 12th and the 14th. For the left to lose sure its majority absolute at the Paris Council in 2026, she must lose all three. Not obvious when you remember that in 2020, for example in the 12th, the Hidalgo list won’ with 55% of the votes.
In the majority municipal, precisely, we see red: “It’s electoral tampering, protests Rémi Féraud, the president of the socialist group at the Council of Paris. The voting method has not been invented by and for Anne Hidalgo, and he did not prevent Jacques Chirac to make the grand slam! [winning all boroughs, in 1983 and 1989]. It”s the strategy of the sore loser.” He also defends the democratic nature of this rule which, according to him, “allowed the alternation in the three cities where it is put in place.” Same story with Nour Durand-Rocher, vice-president of the environmental group, who finds “undemocratic to remove the proximity with the chosen ones.
A lot of work to be done
To prevent this reform from being (too) perceived as an anti-Hidalgo missile, the change could also concern Lyon and Marseille, where the voting system for municipal elections is similar. Without a majority to the National Assembly, Renaissance nevertheless has an ally; found everything to pass this law: LR. Admittedly, the right-wing party no longer has any deputies to vote for. Paris, and only four in the whole of Ile-de-France, but it remains the main opposition to the Council of Paris. And seems all right. willing to vote for a possible reform: “There is a crisis of legitimacy, and this raises the question of the confidence of the citizens, believes the councilor of Paris Nelly Garnier. We are in favor of the principle of voting for a person, a head of the list, as is done in other cities”.
If Macron, or the right, want to have a chance of winning in 2026, changing the voting system seems to be an essential condition. But far, very far from being sufficient. Because if this new rule had been effective in 2020, Anne Hidalgo would have won, and with a majority even wider at the Council of Paris. It will therefore be necessary to convince the electorate on the merits. And after the fiasco of 2020, Renaissance has its work cut out for it. But we assure that çit has begun: “We structure, we want to do a work of reflection and doctrine from here’ 2024”, details a Parisian parliamentarian from the majority. With whom? Overall, elected Parisian Macronists, in particular parliamentarians and ministers.
“At the initiative of Olivia Grégoire, Clément Beaune and Stanislas Guerini, the three ministers elected to Paris, Parisian elected officials meet once a month to discuss the challenges of the capital but at the same time. horizon 2022 (OJ, dark stores…), not 2026”, they say at Olivia Grégoire. “If they see each other, it’s not to talk about rain or shine, it’s with a purpose,” by Stanislas Guerini. Where rather, it is explained that it’s the Minister of Public Service who is responsible for the initiative. Attention, not as a leader, “but he saw that Beaune was going there on his side, that Gr&goire was going there on his side, he wanted to avoid it going all the way. meaning. We wanted to create a collective, to avoid mistakes of the past.” Understanding: Dissent as in 2020. Visibly to this subject, there is still a little work.