“Only I know who I’m voting for”: a week of politics in Dordogne

Bon mots and petty digs, grand ambitions and little lies, blunders and misses: what you shouldn't miss this week on the Périgord political front with the "Tambour" column from the editorial staff of "Sud Ouest"

On Saturday, June 28, for the inauguration of the Josephine Baker Festival, organized by the Licra at the Château des Milandes in Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, the Regional Council was almost overrepresented. Regional and local elected official Jérôme Peyrat was surprised to see Delphine Labails, former mayor of Périgueux, approach the microphone. Stammering a few words, the chief magistrate of La Roque-Gageac readily acknowledged that the socialist represented the regional majority better than he, the center-right. Beyond that, the sequence shows that the elected official of Périgueux, who chose to no longer be mayor after a burnout , is far from having hung up her gloves, and still has a flair for grabbing the spotlight when the spotlights of current events are on. Politics one day, politics always.

Forty-somethings and newly elected president of the Chamber of Agriculture and mayor of Périgueux, Rémi Dumaure and Émeric Lavitola haven't really had time to get to know each other. The meeting they held on Wednesday, July 2nd, didn't help matters: it was rushed through in a matter of minutes. The reason? The socialist questioned the former leader of the Rural Coordination about his ties to the far right, each accusing the other of orchestrating the clash. The standoff was fueled by small barbs. Elected officials change, but methods remain.

For the socialist elected officials of Périgueux, happiness doesn't necessarily seem to be in the meadow. While Émeric Lavitola refuses any ties with the Chamber of Agriculture as long as its president, the former leader of the Rural Coordination Rémi Dumaure, "does not distance himself from the far right," his predecessor Delphine Labails had drawn the wrath of another agricultural union, the FDSEA. The organization had launched Péri'meuh in partnership with the City (under Antoine Audi's term). The event was canceled in 2021, before moving to Sarlat and finally returning to Périgueux in 2024. Turnarounds that would make you go crazy.

It's an understatement to say that the Périgueux mayor's attitude toward the president of the Chamber of Agriculture has sparked outrage. This is a boon for the constituency's National Rally MP, Nadine Lechon, who issued a statement criticizing the "municipality's sectarianism." "Contempt for our roots," adds former right-wing councilor Antoine Audi. In the center, Thomas Sarlat analyzes the socialist mayor's position as a way "to give himself political substance." And no one gives Émeric Lavitola credit for uniting a broad front against him, stretching from the far right to the center.

Thus, Mayor Lavitola "questions the link with the extreme right" maintained by the head of the Chamber of Agriculture. To which Rémi Dumaure refuses to answer, recalling that he "represents all farmers": "Only I know who I vote for." On the other hand, the National Rally has never hidden the fact that it is making eyes at its union, the Rural Coordination. This goes from MP Nadine Lechon who puts on her tricolor scarf and rides her tractor to support a union demonstration , to MP Serge Muller (Bergeracois), clutching ladles during a gathering on the Yves-Guéna roundabout in Périgueux . Not to mention their Périgord boss, MP Florence Joubert (Périgord vert), hailing the "historic victory" of the CR last February. Some very cumbersome support.

Republic sometimes rhymes with dynasty, as proven in Saint-Pierre-de-Frugie. On Saturday, June 28, the town hall's new ceremonial hall was inaugurated, and a commemorative plaque was unveiled on the occasion. The name on it? Jean-Paul Fayol, who passed away in 2020 and was mayor of the town for over thirty years. The ceremony was presided over by the town's current mayor, a certain Stéphane Fayol. A fitting tribute to his father and mayor.

Absent for several years from the Bergerac Municipal Council, two elected officials from the National Rally list have finally resigned. Who will replace them? The 7th and 9th on this list. In other words, all those placed before them have either resigned or refused to take their seats. This speaks volumes about this type of list, which is held together only by the person in first place; the others are there only to make up the numbers.

Among the two newly elected members sitting on the far right of the Bergerac Municipal Council (see above), we find a certain Robert Richard. During the previous term (2014-2020), the latter had left the National Rally with a bang, of which he spoke the worst, to join the micro-party Debout La France. Then he left the latter to return to the fold of the RN . Let's bet that this political version of Saint-Guy's dance will redouble in intensity during the 2026 municipal elections.

The municipal elections are being prepared with varying degrees of secrecy in Bergerac. While the outgoing mayor is still keeping his candidacy unclear, the left-wing coalition is reportedly about to be validated around the socialist Fabien Ruet. As for the National Rally, we are witnessing a "return in hand," under the leadership of MP Serge Muller and especially his parliamentary assistant Christian Gérard. Three lists are therefore reportedly on the way, but it is rumored that a fourth is attempting to form. In Bergerac, we would have been surprised if there wasn't a little spice in the vote!

The cream of Périgord politics was present at the inauguration of the new town hall of Brantôme-en-Périgord on Thursday, July 3. Monique Ratinaud, the mayor, recalled how much the project had been contested before the setting saw the light of day. This immediately piqued the interest of Germinal Peiro, the president of the Department. "I don't know if this project was contested, and I know what I'm talking about, but it has indeed seen the light of day and it's a success," he declared, mentioning a common point of the "villages beginning with B," a nod to Beynac. A well-placed deviation in his speech.

Suggestion from the president of the Périgord Noir Sictom, Jérôme Peyrat, which will dissolve in 2027 to join the SMD3 of which he is already a founding member : let it change its name! "The name is burnt out," he said at the last Sictom union committee meeting. He threw out another name at random, Dordogne ordures, before changing his mind, a smile on his lips: "There are some who will think it's a political party..." Still, for the former advisor to Jacques Chirac, the name POM (as in Périgord ordures ménagères) would undoubtedly be much more appealing.