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Jean-Marc Pujol

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Pujol in 2018

Jean-Marc Gabriel Pujol (born 4 April 1949)[1] is a French former politician. He was a city councillor in Perpignan in Pyrénées-Orientales from 1989 to 2020, serving as mayor from 2009.

Biography

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Born in Mostaganem in French Algeria, Pujol left the country in 1962, four days before its independence. As a law student at the University of Montpellier, he campaigned for Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in the 1974 French presidential election. After François Mitterrand's victory seven years later, Pujol joined the Republican Party.[2] By profession, he was a financial lawyer, specialising in international trade.[3]

Pujol was elected to Perpignan City Council in 1989 as 17th on Jean-Paul Alduy's list, and wore a badge of the Polish union Solidarnosc on his first day; an avowed anti-communist, he described the Fall of the Berlin Wall as the "most beautiful day" of his life.[2] From 1995 he was deputy to mayor Alduy, whom he succeeded in October 2009 upon the latter's resignation.[4] He had been made a Knight of the Legion of Honour at the start of the year.[5]

In 2013, Pujol made a municipal decree banning a performance by Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, on the grounds that the convicted antisemitic comedian presented a risk to public disorder. The ban was overturned by a regional court, ostensibly because the comedian would not perform a controversial song.[6]

In the 2014 French municipal elections, Pujol was the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) candidate. In the first round, Louis Aliot of the National Front (FN) received 34.2% of the vote compared to 30.57% for Pujol. In the second round, with a turnout five percentage points higher, Pujol won the run-off with 55.11% of the vote.[7] Days later, he was elected president of the Perpignan Méditerranée Métropole with 63 votes, compared to 12 for Jean Vila [fr], the Communist mayor of Cabestany, and 11 for Aliot.[8]

Pujol, mayor of a city in a region with Catalan culture, proposed mediation between Spain and Catalonia in October 2017, following the 2017 Catalan independence referendum. He wanted the mediator to be Manuel Valls, the former prime minister of France who was born in Barcelona.[9]

Ahead of the 2020 French municipal elections, Pujol sought the endorsement of La République En Marche (LREM) in order to avoid vote splitting that would benefit Aliot. LREM delegate Stanislas Guerini said that his party was endorsing its own candidate Romain Grau but was open to a withdrawal before the second round.[10] Despite the withdrawals of Grau and the Europe Ecologie-The Greens (EELV) candidate, Aliot won with 53.09% in the run-off.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Jean-Marc PUJOL" (in French). Perpignan. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Perpignan : portrait de Jean-Marc Pujol, tête d'affiche" [Perpignan: portrait of Jean-Marc Pujol, headliner]. L'Indépendant (Pyrénées-Orientales) (in French). 20 February 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  3. ^ Renyé, Aleix (6 April 2014). "Jean-Marc Pujol. Batlle de Perpinyà" [Jean-Marc Pujol. Mayor of Perpignan]. El Punt Avui (in Catalan). Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  4. ^ "Perpignan. Pujol succède à Alduy à la mairie" [Perpignan. Pujol succeeds Alduy as mayor]. La Dépêche du Midi (in French). 23 October 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Décret du 31 décembre 2008 portant promotion et nomination" [Decree of 31 December 2008 on promotion and nomination] (in French). Légifrance. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  6. ^ "La justice autorise le spectacle de Dieudonné à Perpignan" [Judiciary authorises Dieudonné's show in Perpignan] (in French). France Info. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Résultats municipales 2014 à Perpignan : Jean-Marc Pujol (UMP) élu maire face à Louis Aliot (FN)" [2014 municipal election results in Perpignan: Jean-Marc Pujol (UMP) elected mayor against Louis Aliot (FN)] (in French). RTL. 30 March 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  8. ^ Huguenin, Jean-Marc (14 April 2014). "Perpignan : Jean-Marc Pujol élu président de la communauté d'agglomération" [Perpignan: Jean-Marc Pujol elected president of the conurbation] (in French). France 3. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Catalogne : le maire de Perpignan appelle à une médiation menée par Valls" [Catalonia: mayor of Perpignan calls for mediation led by Valls]. Midi Libre (in French). 5 October 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Après une entrevue avec Jean-Marc Pujol, le boss de LREM assure "son soutien total à Romain Grau"" [After an interview with Jean-Marc Pujol, LREM boss assures "his complete support for Romain Grau"]. L'Indépendant (Pyrénées-Orientales) (in French). 20 December 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  11. ^ Le Creurer, Olivier (28 June 2020). "Résultats Municipales à Perpignan : Louis Aliot (Rassemblement national) élu" [Municipal election results in Perpignan: Louis Aliot (National Rally) elected] (in French). France 3. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
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