“I am putting together a list to fire those who are there”: Patrick Balkany attempts a return to Levallois despite his ineligibility

The anniversary is approaching. This Wednesday, March 6, it will be four years to the day since Patrick Balkany is no longer mayor of Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine). An eternity, for the man who ruled the city for almost 33 years, and who is also starting to make people talk about him again. Rather discreet since his release from prison in August 2022, the person concerned recently made a notable appearance in a music video by singer Arno Santamaria. A wink that he agreed to comment on in Le Parisien, taking advantage of this rare speech to talk about how he now intends to spend his free time.

If he confides in exile every night “in the countryside” to sleep “five hours, no more”, the former elected official mainly affirms that he is “preparing for the next municipal elections” in 2026. “I am putting together a list for fire those who are there,” he assures, without however considering running as a candidate in his stronghold. “Don’t worry, I’m 75 years old, I’m not going to start a political career again, I was sentenced to ten years of ineligibility,” he emphasizes, in reference to the sentence he received on the 9th. January 2023 for laundering tax fraud. Rather than to position himself, if he returns to the political game, it is in fact mainly to chase away the current mayor Agnès Pottier-Dumas, who was his parliamentary colleague then his chief of staff, before their relationship broke down. turns sour.

Bitter, the former local baron affirms that the one who replaced him “never leaves her office” at City Hall. “To be mayor you need three qualities: loving people, loving people, loving people. Three qualities that she doesn’t have,” he snaps. To try to beat her, he intends to work “with Klaudia Lafont”, his former social affairs assistant. “We think that a candidacy of Klaudia Lafont (current deputy mayor, editor’s note) can work because she is a grassroots woman, very appreciated,” the Balkany couple already praised her, in 2020, while trying to take advantage of the extension of the period between the two rounds linked to Covid-19 to try to impose his candidacy.

No more intimidated today than yesterday, Agnès Pottier-Dumas warns that she intends to challenge her former boss and ex-mentor, as she had already done in the previous election. In Le Parisien, the mayor certifies that she is not “very worried about her political weight”. “If I am cynical, I would even welcome this list (led by Klaudia Lafont and supported by Patrick Balkany) because it would be useful to me. It would scatter the voices opposed to me,” she continues. Thus confirming that all the ingredients are there for a new political soap opera of which Levallois-Perret has the secret.