They will be able to meet face to face on June 28th. Patrick Haddad, outgoing mayor, in place for about 18 months, and François Pupponi former emblematic mayor of the city, occupy the head of the two lists present in the second round.
On March 15, the outgoing mayor, Patrick Haddad took the lead with 39%. But he found himself chased by the unlabeled list then led by François-Xavier Valentin, supported by François Pupponi, present in third place on his list. All the other lists were eliminated, but two of them merged with François-Xavier Valentin’s. And, surprise, François Pupponi took, at the time of the submission of candidatures for the second round, the head of this one.
Restless municipal life
The war between Pupponi and his successor began in December 2018, barely had Haddad installed at the town hall.
In Sarcelles, for twenty years and until 2017, it was François Pupponi who played the role of a strong man. The chosen one won in this stronghold of Val d’Oise, initially in the wheel of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the mid-1990s. Elected mayor on his behalf in 2001, he became deputy in 2007 when Strauss left -Kahn at the IMF, and also chaired the Anru (National Agency for Housing Renovation) from 2014 to 2017.
The man leaves his chair as mayor only with regret in 2017, because of the law on the non-accumulation of mandates. Consequently, a phase of instability sets in. Three mayors succeed one another in two years: Nicolas Maccioni (chosen by Pupponi and resigned after six months), the Communist Annie Peronnet who throws in the towel after 7 months for health reasons… finally Patrick Haddad, the current mayor. “My two predecessors could not bear the psychological pressure exerted by Pupponi who wanted to continue to lead the city completely” affirms Patrick Haddad.
In 2019, Haddad announces that he is running for municipal elections in 2020, but disputes are emerging within the PS while other municipal councilors are declaring themselves candidates. Pupponi seizes the opportunity to come back. “I thought that if I didn’t do anything we risked losing the city,” says François Puponni. “It is he who risks toppling Sarcelles by allying with right-wing people,” retorts Haddad.
Cleavage around communitarianism
Pupponi, who left the PS in 2019, decides to sponsor a rally list: “we have uninserted citizens, socialists, communists, LRs, LREMs …” he says, hoping for a good postponement votes from the two DVG candidates rallied in the second round.
Basically, Pupponi says he wants to defend his city against the lack of ambition of his successor on major projects: “Haddad does not know how to defend Sarcelles, particularly in the context of Anru budgets and poorly manages the city. I cannot let what it took me 25 years to build to pieces ”.
“To justify his candidacy, he invents a scenario from scratch. The reality is that he had put too much concrete in the city and that we want a break in this area ”, indignant Haddad in return, recalling in passing that Pupponi should soon go before the criminal court following his indictment. in the “Sem Chaleur” file.
But the question of communitarianism remains the great cleavage between the two men. For Pupponi, who says he wants to fight Salafism and the Muslim Brotherhood and has published a recent book on the subject (The Emirates of the Republic), Haddad does not have a clear enough discourse and practice on the subject. “He pits the communities against each other,” denounces Haddad, who points to a “rightization” of Pupponi in order to “siphon the voices of the right and even the far right.” A statement vigorously challenged by Pupponi who claims to remain true to his political ideals, while denouncing radical Islam.
There remains an additional unknown: will the political battle mobilize the voters of Sarcelles (60,000 inhabitants), one of the cities in France hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic …
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