Three members of the opposition in Mézel, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, have announced they will not take their seats on the municipal council following their defeat in the March 15th elections. Claude Segond, who led the “Ensemble faisons vivre Mézel” list, along with Jennifer Risacher and Jean-Claude Dalla-Favera, will forgo their positions, effectively relinquishing their roles before the scheduled installation of the new mayor on March 22nd.
Segond, a former mayor of Mézel elected in 2020, had hoped to regain the mayoral office after a period in opposition. His list ultimately lost to Gilles Bertorello’s “Une équipe, une expérience, un engagement pour Mézel” by a margin of 59 votes, receiving 41.3% of the vote compared to Bertorello’s 58.7%. The results, confirmed by official counts, saw Bertorello’s list secure 12 of the 15 seats on the council, while Segond’s list gained three.
“It must be that I played the game badly,” Segond stated, expressing his disappointment with the outcome. The decision by Segond and his colleagues means that the 140 voters who supported their list will not be directly represented on the council, despite having secured a democratic mandate. Overall voter participation in Mézel was 79%, with 365 residents casting ballots out of a total of 462 registered voters.
The first round of municipal elections in Mézel saw a total of 339 valid votes cast, with 11 ballots left blank and 15 declared null. The outcome effectively consolidates power for Bertorello’s team, leaving the remaining opposition members to navigate a council dominated by the winning list. The new council will be responsible for electing the mayor from among its members.
The situation in Mézel follows a broader trend of post-election fallout in the region, with other elected officials as well stepping down after the municipal elections. The council is scheduled to convene on Sunday, March 22nd, to formally install the new mayor and begin the process of governing the commune.
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