“Give more power to counter-power”: in Yvelines, local opposition elected officials are organizing

2023-09-17 17:36:50

A “fantasy” of local democracy? This is what seventy-eight elected officials from Yvelines seem to feel who have just joined the very young departmental collective of local minority elected officials, officially born this Thursday, September 14, at the end of a meeting organized in Triel-sur-Seine.

Fifteen proposals to “promote a renewed conception of representative local democracy” emerged. The signatories defend the creation of an observatory of local democracy and the strengthening of the power of intervention of opposition elected officials. A development which, according to them, involves greater fairness between elected officials – including in terms of financial compensation – easier access to information or even a reinforced right of expression on municipal communication media.

In this perspective, the signatories also intend to mobilize in favor of a revision of the majority bonus. According to the electoral code, this measure immediately allocates 50% of the seats to the list that comes first in towns with 1,000 inhabitants or more. “We believe that a revision to 25% would be more respectful of the voters’ vote and would promote the emergence of a culture of compromise,” comments Yvon Rosconval, opposition elected official in Triel-sur-Seine and at the initiative of the collective.

“At the local level, democracy is a beautiful facade”

Elected since 2020 on the “Triel differently” list, this opposition municipal councilor had, when he took the plunge, “a rather positive vision of local democracy”. “I discovered the other side of the story: on a local scale, this famous democracy is a beautiful facade,” he says. The formula is easy but it effectively summarizes the objective: “We want to give more power to counter-power,” insists Yvon Rosconval.

Last January, with two elected officials from Seine-et-Marne, he initiated a barometer of local democracy, relayed by the national association of local opposition elected officials (AELO). Five hundred elected officials from all over France were questioned.

“This consultation allowed us to point out a generally degraded situation,” comments the elected official from Triel. Whatever the size of the cities, counter-power does not have the means to function. When I contacted the elected officials of Yvelines who had responded to this barometer to discuss with them the idea of ​​a collective, support was immediate, from all political sides. There was an expectation: people feel isolated.”

The departmental collective intends to take advantage of the next senatorial elections as well as ongoing discussions on the exercise of local mandates and the status of elected officials. “We are ready to sit around the table,” insists Yvon Rosconval. We will meet the senatorial candidates and all the deputies to submit our fifteen proposals. We also want to meet the prefect.”