Frédéric Michel (in Sainte-Anastasie-sur-Issole), edited by Solène Leroux
, modified to
06:10, January 24, 2022
To which candidate, the mayor of Sainte-Anastasie-sur-Issole in the Var will give his sponsorship to stand for the 2022 presidential election? In this small town in green Provence, Olivier Hoffmann and his City Council, elected without a label in the last elections, made the original choice of a citizen consultation. “In a democratic will, and not to display a political tendency, we leave the choice to the inhabitants registered on the electoral lists of the village. We must work with everyone”, insists the mayor.
The vote to designate the candidate to be sponsored will be organized on Saturdays January 29 and February 5. To validate the consultation, it is necessary that a quarter of the voters of the borough, that is to say approximately 400 people, move to the polls. Otherwise, the counting will not take place and no sponsorship will be awarded. The list of candidates declared or in the process of being declared will be displayed at the entrance to the multipurpose hall of the commune where the vote is to be held.
Citizen consultation
In Sainte-Anastasie-sur-Issole, a peaceful village in the west of Var where 2,000 inhabitants live, the ballot boxes will not wait until April and the presidential election to be installed. From next Saturday, the inhabitants registered on the electoral lists of the municipality will be able to participate in a citizen consultation, in order to designate the candidate that their mayor will have to sponsor for the supreme election.
The purpose of the approach explains Olivier Hoffmann, “is not to express myself in my own name, as the law authorizes me to do. I do not want, having been elected without a label, to display political convictions”. And the city councilor emphasizes that “democracy gives municipalities the opportunity to express themselves, so it must be done. And the only way to do this without engaging politically is by organizing a citizen consultation. This seems to us the simplest way on our scale to carry out this sponsorship”. In the streets of the village or in the town hall, Olivier Hoffmann does not hesitate to explain his approach to the citizens he meets. Each household received a flyer announcing the consultation.
“In all municipalities it should be mandatory”
Two retired friends living in Sainte-Anastasie and involved in the community life of the town, applaud the initiative. “Anyway, he’s a mayor without a label”, explains Réjane, “it’s normal that he doesn’t feel the responsibility of having everything on his back”. And Monique to add: “At least, we feel concerned, we also count, and for us the population, it’s very positive.”
At the exit of the village, in a bakery, two young friends who came to buy bread, confirm that they will go to vote. “It’s participatory, democratic and in all municipalities it should be, almost, compulsory”, insists Adeline. This young resident of Sainte-Anastasie-sur-Issole is convinced that the initiative can encourage the population to take an interest in the presidential election next April. At his side, his friend says she is “happy” to be able to express herself: “It is the duty of the mayor to represent the inhabitants. It is important that it is not only him who decides, it is the choice of everybody.”
400 votes to validate the consultation
The list of all the candidates, around forty, “the declared candidates and those in the process of being declared, I am thinking of President Macron”, laughs the mayor, will be displayed at the entrance to the multipurpose hall where the vote. Blank ballots will be available, to write down the name of the candidate to be sponsored and the leaflet distributed to the inhabitants specifies that it is necessary to bring a ballpoint pen. In the event of a tie, the designation will be made by drawing lots.
The mayor of Sainte-Anastasie-sur-Issole, who says he receives requests for sponsorship every day and sometimes with insistence, affirms that he will respect the vote, if at least 400 people move, that is to say a quarter of the voters of the commune. . Otherwise, concludes Olivier Hoffmann, “the counting will not take place and no sponsorship will be awarded”.