SWING YOUR BURGOMASTER

À CHINY, GOUVERNER OU RÉGNER ?

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Strangely enough, it is at the first level of political democracy, at the communal level, that we often find elected officials who behave like perfect dictators. Where one would imagine that the proximity between the elected officials and the population would allow for dialogue and, why not, a horizontality of exchanges. 

The commune of Chiny has been administered for 13 years by the same man, the « deputy mayor » Sebastian Pirlot. Before that, he was the first alderman in 2000. Twenty years of communal power, that wears out! Above all, and no doubt this is not a unique case, the exercise of power gives some people such a feeling of omnipotence that they lose all restraint. In the last communal elections of 2018, the one called  » the lord of the Faing « (1) had managed to eliminate any hint of opposition in his municipality by including three of the five elected members of the minority on his list, thus erasing the possibility of constituting an alternative list within a reasonable time. Result: only one list was present, that of the very modest « deputy-mayor ». No suspense in sight and the guarantee for Sebastian Pirlot to reign as he pleases with a College devoted to his devotion. 

Among the files on the table of the new College, that of the closure of the elementary school of Chiny. Due to insufficient enrollment, the College decided to close its doors at the end of August, even before the legal deadline of October 1. And yet, it is not for lack of children in Chiny! But here is the problem: faced with the notorious incompetence of the teacher in charge of the school, many parents decided to enroll their children in schools in neighboring villages. It should be noted in passing that the organizing authority of this communal school, namely the Collège communal, was perfectly aware of this situation, which it — deliberately? — let it rot. With the complications that one can imagine in terms of additional fatigue for the children, stress and costs for the parents who are forced to drive several kilometers in the morning and evening — the Collège communal having obviously not taken the initiative to organize a school transport! Not to mention the pollution caused by increased traffic. 

Deliberately? As soon as the decision to close the school for good was made, the mayor announced his plans! A clean slate for a large-scale real estate project in the center of a village with a strong rural character. A project that will also have the effect of permanently confiscating from the village a natural space that has been enhanced over the years by creative development (orchard, wild meadow, water feature, playground, etc.). Faced with this project, the population expressed its opposition, notably in the form of an interpellation, in January 2019, to the attention of the College, thus the sovereign mayor, asking him to kindly postpone this decision to sell and to accept a consultation with the inhabitants. When consulted personally, some elected officials had expressed their support for this request, also expressing their opposition to the sale. But surprisingly, at the time of the Council vote, none of the elected officials dared to veto Sebastian Pirlot’s strong will. Without batting an eyelid, without flinching, without the slightest comment, the sale was sealed. Fear, submission, pressure? La Boétie would undoubtedly speak here of this voluntary servitude to tyranny. In the municipality of Chiny, popular consent seems to be the usual practice, and there is no dispute. 

A SUSPICIOUS EMERGENCY 

To understand this mayoral haste, it is neither useless nor trivial to look at the recent career of the deputy mayor of Chiny. After more than twenty years of « militancy » in the PS, he announced in January of this year that he was leaving the party, almost three months after the municipal elections, in which he had actually run for the PS. Did his voters appreciate what, while legally permissible, looks like a kind of betrayal. And now that he has become an unaffiliated mayor, he has more freedom to develop his personal business, a communications company, Game of coms, which this former journalist set up in 2017, thus preparing his conversion step by step. While judiciously using the opportunities offered by his position to weave a useful relational web. 

NO MORE ETHICS 

At the same time, one can appreciate the values displayed on the blog of the communication company of the mayor of Chiny(2). His role models? Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin or Nigel Farage, the pro-Brexit eurosceptic and anti-immigration tenor. The slogan of Game of coms is to assume fake news, misinformation, alternative truths and post-truth. Obviously, the mayor of Chiny has had the opportunity to hone his knowledge of effective and cynical communication within the political establishment. For example, here are the tips he provides on his website(3):

HOW TO MAKE A FAKE NEWS ? 

Here are 5 basic rules to follow: 

  1. We might as well remember it, because it is a fundamental rule: fake news must not tell the truth; 
  2. To make a success of a fake news, don’t hesitate to flesh it out to the point of excess and even to sprinkle it, here and there, with a few abracadabulous details: fantasy and embellishment are the keystone of the alternative fact if you want to attract attention;
  3. As successful as it is, your fake news will often be more or less identified as such. Therefore, when you first design, don’t forget to insert a pinch of truth that will allow you to extinguish the fire or, at the very least, to implement a welcome backfire; 
  4. The biggest producers of fake news are unanimous: one should always accuse others (for example, a journalist) of having created a fake news before being accused of it oneself. This makes it much easier to clear your name; 
  5. Finally, to become a master in the art of handling fake news, you must not hesitate to train and persevere: you must therefore use them regularly!

These are the values advocated by the deputy-mayor-communicator of Chiny, responsible, among other things, for the education of his town! Unfortunately, the citizens of Chiny have still more than five years to live under the tutelage of a burgomaster whose moods are close to nothing. 

Caption:
Sebastian Pirlot, The Diary of aHouse Man, Image Publique Éditions, 2016. All the arrogance of Sebastian Pirlot, champion of unabashed communication, is expressed in this cover. 

Sophie Michel

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