Haute Garonne. “The challenge is for me to die happy”: the confidences of Georges Méric, who bows out
By Guillaume Laurent
Published on
“You are not used to a politician leaving when he has five years left in his mandate”, slipped this Tuesday, November 29, 2022 to Toulousein the face of somewhat surprised journalists, George Meric. “But I am not a classic politician, recognized my originality! “. While he will celebrate his 75th birthday on December 3, the president (PS) of the Departmental Council of Haute-Garonne confirmed his resignation, announced a few hours earlier to elected officials in their community. A decision that will take effect this Wednesday, when he leaves the reins of the Department to his first vice-president, Sebastien Vincini. And at the time of bowing out, the tenant of the Hôtel du Département gave himself up to a few secrets. Anthology.
# On passing time and family
“I am 75 years old in four days”, a blown Georges Méric, who has presided over the destinies of the Department for seven years now. “I have fulfilled my life well and today, I aspire to rest”.
“I was too often absent for my family, monopolized by my commitments. I have four grandchildren from 6 to 18 years old and I intend to be at their side”.
“At my age, I need to experience something else, serenity and time”, he poured out: “Being full time here, I have no time”. Then the head of the Department shared an astonishing confidence: “In 2021, my family was not entirely happy that I represent myself. I had made the commitment to stop at the age of 75, and I respect it, four days in advance.
Will there ever be another Méric on the public scene? If son grandfather being part of the close guard of Jean Jaurès, and his father, André, was Secretary of State to Veterans under François Mitterrand, Georges Méric does not intend to force the hand of his estate: “My grandchildren do what they want”. But on the eve of his 75th birthday, this socialist before the eternal does not lose sight of the essential: “They must include certain values, and family life makes it possible to inculcate them”.
“I enter my winter garden”
# On life and on death
Georges Méric therefore intends to free up time to enjoy the little pleasures of life, but also to assume his quest for conference and his passion for philosophical.
“I want to pursue a philosophical quest that enlightens my life. And then, I’m behind in my library and need to catch up!”.
At 75, he says he is aware of “entering (his) winter garden to consolidate wisdom in the face of death. I have one last chapter of my life to write. The challenge is mine to die happy. And to refer to Montaigne, whom he loves so much: “To philosophize is to learn to die”.
#On his health
“I have some heart problems to manage”, also named Georges Méric, who stopped several times on his health. “My body urgently needs attention and care,” he insisted.
“I am a doctor and I know that it is not reasonable to insist on this dangerous evasion”.
Claiming the benefits of “thinking about your own death”, the president slips aside: “I am a geriatrician, I know that I have an average of eight years left to live, five years not bad, and three difficult years. I don’t want to go to the end of this mandate, to only have to live the three difficult years”.
# On the date of his decision
Georges Méric also specified that he had “informed (his) close political entourage 18 months ago already” of this decision, i.e. before the departmental elections, where he was reelected hands down.
“This decision was carefully considered, and ratified at the beginning of 2021. But my political friends had asked me or even demanded that I represent myself, because I was a good leader”.
“I think there is a certain elegance in withdrawing when I have no obligation to do so today”, engaged the former mayor of Nailloux, happy to pave the way for “younger than me on the end of the mandate, i.e. five years”.
# On the “conceptual background” of its policy
Worried about “the distressing evolution of society”, the outgoing president believes that “we have reached the reign of insignificance, appearance and mediocrity”. Always very lively, Georges Méric sprinkled his exit speech with many quotes. In a more political register, he dwelt for a long time on the meaning of his action: “I am a dinosaur of the Mitterrand generation who endeavored to provide this institution with a conceptual background”.
“I think I have fulfilled my task,” he gauged. “The most interesting thing for me is to have developed a conceptual compass to guide our political choices: emancipation, universalism and humanism”. Then he relied on the Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza: “Inner satisfaction is actually the greatest we can hope for”.
# On his main political actions
Georges Méric also welcomed the main actions allowed during these seven years, where he claims to have carried out “a policy driven by the left, progressive, environmentalist”. Whereas the community was almost swallowed up by the Metropolis in 2018, he prides himself on having managed to “save the Department” in the face of “neoliberal hypermetropolisation”.
More concretely, he observes that “fiber optics are now arriving in all homes in Haut-Garonne”. And while many events of all kinds are now organized on Boulevard de la Marquette, within the confines of the community, he is also honored to have “opened the windows of this institution for seven years”.
But the main marker of Georges Méric undoubtedly remains the cursor placed on education and this constant concern for Diversity. Very attached to secularism and “the affirmation of the values of the Republic”, the elected official also revealed that “the social mix in the colleges” of Haute-Garonne, which he motivated with a hand of iron, “is a success and arouses national interest”.
Carole Delga salutes the action of Georges Méric, “a precursor” at the head of the Department of Haute-Garonne
Carole Delga, the president (PS) of the Occitanie Region, was one of the first to react to the announcement of this departure: “Since 2015, Georges Méric and his majority on the left have provided proof that the Departments play a real role of social shield in our territories (…) Georges Méric knew how to reinforce the social missions of the Department of Haute-Garonne, by carrying high the values of solidarity, equality and fraternity that we share”. After mentioning “his involvement in the secular and civic journey undertaken by the Department”, she points out that “in the field of education, he was a pioneer in working for social diversity in the colleges of the department. The first results demonstrates today that he was right”. And to conclude: “I finally salute his desire to move the lines, like his mobilization for basic income”. For Carole Delga, “it is a strong message which shows that the left knows how to seize the aspirations of our fellow citizens”.
# On his successor
This Tuesday in front of the press, Georges Méric had actually revealed his speech… by a message on his estate. “I give my mandate to my party and to the majority group of the Department,” he said.
“I asked, as the rules provide, our first vice-president, Sébastien Vincini, to take care of day-to-day business. I do it with serenity, because he has the capacity to carry out this task”.
Sebastien Vincini, which had released the reins of the Socialist Party of Haute-Garonne last May, after eight years at the head of the federation, therefore becomes 44 years, acting chairman of the department. An interim which, barring an earthquake, will be called upon to last… While the elected official of the canton of Auterive has already announced his desire to seek his succession, and while he has just resigned from the town hall of Cintegabelle, the outgoing sees in him “natural” successor son.
“He’s the natural candidate. We’ve been seeing each other in an important way for at least 12 years, he knows the institution well, the budget, and he’s politically trained. He’s 30 years younger than me. is a plus. With him, there will be an adaptive continuity”.
And Georges Méric concludes with a final quote: “Tomorrow, there is still a lot to do, but as Proust wrote, how many cathedrals remain unfinished! “The next builder in chief of this building which has always been socialist should be invested later by the departmental assembly, next Tuesday, December 13th.
Was this article helpful to you? Know that you can follow Actu Toulouse in space My News . In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.