The president of Nîmes Métropole is a candidate for mayor in 2026 ? “I am not deaf”, replies Franck Proust

Libéré de ses contraintes judiciaires, Franck Proust se tourne désormais vers demain. Midi Libre – BETHUNE ALEXIS

Dans un entretien à Midi Libre, l'actuel président de l'agglo de Nîmes, Franck Proust, évoque ses réflexions autour d'une potentielle candidature à la mairie de Nîmes.

The political horizon is clearing for you with your acquittal in the so-called Senim affair. We feel that you are building your troops for the next political battles. Are you a candidate in the 2026 municipal elections ?

I am not deaf. I hear. And I met a lot of people at the Feria. But we don't even know the schedule for the municipal elections yet. I am always in action. What interests me is the results. I will not make my decision until early 2025.

Recently, Julien Plantier reiterated in our columns the wish that you and he reach an agreement on the management of the City and the Agglo, as Jean-Paul Fournier initially wished. Are you still opposed to it??

I actually saw Julien Plantier in July, who asked me questions. I told him that whoever the mayor of Nîmes is, he must be president of the Agglo. When you have an agglomeration of the same type as Nîmes Métropole, where the city centre accounts for 60% of the population for 80% of tax resources, the president of the Agglo, for reasons of efficiency, synergy, territorial coherence, must necessarily be the mayor of this city centre. When Jean-Paul Fournier was mayor of Nîmes, president of the Agglomeration and senator, there were far fewer problems than today. With the former presidency, it was atrocious. And there, even though I am friends with Jean-Paul Fournier, it is always more effective when we speak with one voice. In 95% of Agglomerations, the mayor is president. We must think about the short, medium and long term. What city, what metropolis do we want ? In any case, after four terms of Jean-Paul Fournier, we will have to rewrite a new page. We will need a vision, a program.

But ultimately, how could you represent a new vision, since you have been working with Jean-Paul Fournier for years ?

Jean-Paul Fournier has an extraordinary record. He has transformed the city. But we are talking about generations. While continuing his legacy, I can possibly, if I am a candidate, bring a vision, energy and new momentum. But a municipal election is a bit like a presidential election, it is the meeting of a people with a woman or a man. And to that, I would add that there is also this notion: duty, desire and circumstances. In any case, the greatest tragedy for me would be to fall back into the parenthesis that we experienced between 1995 and 2001…