As with every election, Anticor (the association that aims to be the watchdog of political life) is once again taking action and offering candidates to commit to an anti-corruption ethical charter and its derivatives: Collusion, conflict of interest, and other breaches of the principle that an elected official is at the service of citizens.
As Pierre Mendes-France proclaimed, democracy does not consist of episodically putting a ballot in the box, delegating powers to an elected official, and then remaining silent. It is the continuous action of the citizen. For democracy is not a choice between offers; it is a power to act.
Séverine Tessier, a legal expert and co-founder of the association of which she is the national president, presented the 2015 edition of the charter that 5 pairs have signed to date.
It’s not much, but the drop needs time to make its mark in the stone. Moreover, this awareness-raising is positive in that it serves as an alarm bell and encourages elected officials to adopt virtuous behavior.
It is also not easy to advance ideas and behaviors: the content of Anticor’s Charter aims for an innovative local democracy that asks citizens and elected officials to have an anti-corruption mindset, while often, we prefer opaque systems to get things done, with clientelism and clanism being a preferential route.
But the association’s president is optimistic for the future: “At the national level, in the last municipal elections, we recorded approximately 500 signatures with 40 elected mayors, including the mayors of Montpellier and Limoges, and Biot in the Alpes-Maritimes,” says Séverine Tessier.
“Unfortunately, whistleblowers are not protected, and therefore, many acts of clientelism are not brought to light. Furthermore, elected officials do not always have the necessary preparation to understand their rights and duties. That is why we are calling for mandatory training to bring them up to speed,” continues the national president, who is a Niçoise by adoption.
She concludes by sounding an alarm: “Recently, the situation has considerably deteriorated; people have normalized the scandal, and thus, there is less reaction from them.”
Séverine Tessier is also the author of a book with an evocative title: “Fighting Against Corruption,” which is a testimony of her commitment to this noble cause.
