Critics about the support of the former Angers mayor to his successor may foreshadow a new territorial balance

It is not sure the recent statements of Jean-Claude Antonini regarding the future adversaries of Frédéric Béatse, current Angers mayor, have been helpful to the latter on the long-term. If negative reactions from members of the minority group at the city council, former opponents of Mr. Antonini, were likely, critics coming from one of the deputy-president of Alm, a structure Mr. Antonini manages, were rather unexpected.

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According to Dominique Servant, Saint-Léger-des-Bois mayor and Alm vice-president, Mr. Antonini would have criticized some of the mayors "jealous of their prerogatives". For Mr. Servant, such declarations are unacceptable, himself pledging for more solidarity between cities and villages members of that authority. A few days ago, another vice-president of Alm, Marc Goua, Trélazé mayor and member of parliament, pointed out that Angers, the most important member of Alm, should not get automatically the presidency of that structure.

If Mr. Rotureau, one of the two candidates to the Angers mayor office didn't (yet?) answered to Mr. Antonini's point of view, some friends of Christophe Béchu, member of parliament, president of the Conseil général de Maine-et-Loire and challenger of Mr. Béatse, have reacted the following day. According to Roselyne Bienvenu, Angers town councillor in the minority group, Mr. Antonini should not have intervened and should have stayed at large, a choice made by Jean Monnier, former Angers mayor. Another town coucillor (minority), Gilles Groussard, thinks the president of Alm should focus his attention" on employment and economy".

These opinions may herald a balancing between Angers and surrounding cities in villages in Angers Loire Métropole after the next municipal elections.