Nouveau Narbonne have started laying the ground work for what looks like a tough battle in the municipal elections. Avowedly apolitical the ruling group of the town can see the storm clouds, the loss of Aude Departmental seat Narbonne East to the Socialist Murielle Raymond was a bitter blow- equally the strong showing for Union Toute!, the socialist communist green alliance for the Languedoc regional election was a clear warning sign of the changing nature of the electorate- particularly when you consider that the "apolitical" Nouveau Narbonne mayor, Michel Moynier, was very high on Jacques Blanc list for the Languedoc Right.
Founded in 1971, Nouveau Narbonne broke the reign of the socialist communist alliance that had ruled Narbonne Rosé since the time of the Popular Front when Blum was the deputy and Prime Minster in 1936. It was the first major town in the Aude to slip through the socialist communist alliance's fingers.
Today however their hold looks increasingly tenuous. Despite founder Francoise Dubourdieu's claim that the original manifesto, written in 1971, still hold true to day the reality is that Nouveau Narbonne is very different political force now. No matter how hard they proclaim their apolitical nature Nouveau Narbonne is now associated with Jacques Blanc's 18 years of rule at a regional level, complete with echoing rumours of corruption and deals with the extreme National Front. At a local level the ongoing campaign by local newspaper L'Independant around money for planning permission scandals, and the invalidation of the 2001 municipal elections due to election malpractise has hurt this once vibrant political force. The second factor that is also digging deep into the once solid quartiers is the rapid demographic growth of Narbonne with many new Narbonnais unaware of the unique political environment and history of the town and the personalities involved. The majority of the new arrivals are retired people with an eye for who will best defend their pensions and health care system- not traditionaly a strong electoral issue for a political force now so closely identified with the Right.
Peter Shield 12th October 2004

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