Castigating its “populism”, the PS drops Lisnard for the head of the AMF

David Lisnard is currently leading two campaigns. If he is a presidential candidate, the mayor of Cannes is also seeking to be re-elected at the head of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF). And, unsurprisingly, he will not be able to count on the socialists.

An election from November 23 to 25

While the mayors of France are called to renew the AMF authorities from November 23 to 25, the PS announces that it opposes “the candidacy of David Lisnard”.

“The socialists will not give their vote to a candidate who every day turns more towards populism and the temptation of a union of the right with the extreme right,” they wrote in a press release Tuesday evening at the end of a national office.

The Socialist Party explains that it has “always fully participated in the transpartisan governance” of the AMF, and that it has chosen “to once again participate in a governance agreement between left and right for the renewal of the bodies”. But the PS considers that the mayor of Cannes “seems to be engaging in an ever more right-wing drift”, and is mixing his campaign for the presidency of the AMF and that for the presidency of the Republic.

“The agreement which binds the left and the right with a view to renewing the bodies does not concern the election to the presidency”, writes the PS, judging that David Lisnard “did not respect his function as president of the AMF and trampled on the duty of assembly that it imposes”.

The PS denounces “irresponsible” comments

The socialists reproach him for his "ever more caricatured and irresponsible remarks", in particular when he transforms "the rally in support of the municipality of Limoges [whose town hall was burned on October 17] into a political platform", when he spreads "false information on the territory of the Millevaches plateau" which he accused of being "terrorist training camps", when he extends "his hand to the allies of the National Front" or when he despises "the memory of the massacre of October 17, 1961” when many Algerians were killed and thrown into the Seine by police officers.

“Mayors of all sensibilities, including right-wing and non-label ones, have begun to express their disapproval, this should naturally lead him to withdraw his candidacy,” judges the PS.

Follow the 2027 Presidential Election

The socialists indicate that they “will vote for a candidate capable of guaranteeing respect for the pluralism and collegiality on which the AMF is based”. The UDI mayor of Sceaux in Hauts-de-Seine, Philippe Laurent, is David Lisnard's only opponent at the head of the AMF.