Niort, Parthenay, Bressuire, Saint-Maixent, Châtellerault and even Montmorillon are among the 30,000 municipalities in France which elected their municipal council in the first round on Sunday March 15. The outgoing teams were to meet in camera from Friday to Sunday to appoint mayor and assistants. But due to the coronavirus pandemic and containment measures, the government made a decision this Thursday to postpone all sessions until at least mid-May.
“It is a wise decision”
“The decision fell while we were preparing the deliberations”, says Jérôme Neveux, the outgoing mayor of Jaunay-Marigny. Freshly re-elected, he was taken aback by the announcement of Edouard Philippe. However, given the circumstances, “it may be the best thing”.
In Deux-Sèvres, in Bressuire, the new opposition wanted the postponement, it had announced that it would not attend the session scheduled for Friday. For her part, Emmanuelle Ménard, elected Sunday in the commune of bocage, will have to wait before replacing Jean-Michel Bernier.
“The goal was not to settle in, but it was to make the municipality and the services continue because that is what the government asked. There if the government says that it will continue with the former mayors and well we’ll do it that way, I don’t have a problem with it. “
Municipal councils were preparing to sit in exceptional conditions in order to enforce the rules of confinement. “It was a bit surreal as an organization, to do it in a village hall, with all the precautions to be taken “, indicates Jérôme Neveux. The municipal councilors had to sit, leaving a distance of one meter between each. However, the rooms of municipal councils are not expandable.
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