Municipal elections: Sébastien Lecornu asks his ministers not to speak on the eve and day of the election in order to "preserve the neutrality of the State"

Sébastien Lecornu has asked his ministers who are not candidates in the municipal elections not to speak to the media the day before and the day of the first and second rounds, in a circular obtained by AFP and consulted by BFMTV.

This instruction "aims to preserve the neutrality of the State and the integrity of the public debate. It must be strictly respected," the Prime Minister writes in this circular signed Tuesday and revealed by Le Parisien. He himself is a candidate on a list in Vernon (Eure), where he was mayor in 2014-2015. He will vote there on Sunday but will not speak.

"A reinforced obligation of institutional neutrality"

The government camp as a whole is keeping a low profile in this campaign, while the race is tight in several municipalities. Party leaders like Édouard Philippe (Horizons) and François Bayrou (MoDem) remain focused on their respective cities, Le Havre and Pau. Ministers who are not candidates are asked "not to participate in television programs, special broadcasts, live commentary, or media coverage dedicated to the presentation and analysis of the first and second round results" on March 15 and 22, explains Sébastien Lecornu. The Prime Minister reiterates that all his ministers "are bound by a heightened obligation of institutional neutrality and restraint, particularly during media coverage related to the election, in order to guarantee the strict separation between government communication and partisan political expression, and the clarity of democratic debate." Without a clearly defined rule, the Prime Minister allowed Rachida Dati, a candidate in Paris, to leave. But Marina Ferrari (Sports), head of the list in Aix-les-Bains (Savoie), Michel Fournier (Rural Affairs) in Les Voivres (Vosges), Nicolas Forissier (Foreign Trade) in La Châtre (Indre), and Jean-Didier Berger (Interior) in Clamart (Hauts-de-Seine) remained in the government. Sébastien Lecornu himself is a candidate in third position on the list of the outgoing mayor, François Ouzilleau, in his stronghold of Vernon. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin is second on the list of the incumbent mayor of Tourcoing (Nord). Also running are Françoise Gatel in Châteaugiron (Ille-et-Vilaine), Vincent Jeanbrun in L'Haÿ-les-Roses (Val-de-Marne), Laurent Panifous in Le Fossat (Ariège), Anne Le Hénanff in Vannes (Morbihan), and Benjamin Haddad, on Rachida Dati's list in Paris.