Français
Was it thanks to the new "alliance" within the territorial council that the primitive budget was adopted at the meeting on Thursday March 27? Without a doubt. Nevertheless, if Xavier Lédée and the four territorial councillors who have remained loyal to him (Olivier Gréaux, Marie-Angèle Aubin, Fabrice Querrard and Mélissa Lake) have clearly agreed to give up a few extra inches of ground to the Saint-Barth d'Abord group, then the budget will be adopted.der a few extra inches of ground to the Saint-Barth d'Abord group, it became clear as the session progressed that the group chaired by Alexandra Questel is now the decision-making force on the council. Much to the dismay of the assembly's third largest group, Action-Équilibre, whose motion of no-confidence to dismiss Xavier Lédée was rejected on March 17. An episode which, unsurprisingly, led to a further shift in governance.
At the March 17 meeting, only the eight elected members of Action-Équilibre (Marie-Hélène Bernier, Bettina Cointre, Maxime Desouches, Dimitri Lédée, Pascale Minarro Baudoin, David Blanchard, Jonas Brin and Cécile Rubino Tessier) voted in favor of the no-confidence motion. The presidential group voted "against" and Saint-Barth d'Abord did not take part in the vote. Despite repeated disagreements with the way in which the current president conducts the Collectivité's affairsSBDA's elected representatives preferred to leave him in his chair rather than seat Marie-Hélène Bernier. Nevertheless, this choice of presidential stability was not accompanied by a blank check. In fact, the March 27 meeting showed that Saint-Barth d'Abord and its leader have no intention of going easy on either Xavier Lédée or the elected members of Action-Équilibre.
A reframed president
As soon as the first item on the agenda was discussed, Alexandra Questel took the President by the scruff of the neck. Having just stated that he had been asked by the elected members of the Saint-Barth d'Abord group to "compensate for the absence of certain chairpersons" on several committees, the head of the SBDA group immediately reframed him, stating: "After Caroline Maurel resigned and you lost the chairmanship of the social commission, Marie-Angèle (Aubin) expressed the wish to take over this commission and discussed with Rudi (Laplace) the possibility of him taking over the environment commission. Just to clarify, this was not a request on our part. "
A few minutes later, when it came to electing the chairman of the social commission, the Action-Équilibre group insisted on supporting the candidacy of Cécile Rubino Tessier against that of Marie-Angèle Aubin. President Lédée argues that this request was made "half an hour before the close of amendments" and declares: "In form, I find it cavalier. "Marie-Hélène Bernier, first vice-president, replied that a vote would be "rather democratic". Some verbal quibbling followed, until Alexandra Questel intervened, declaring that her group was in favor of a vote. The chairman bowed and the vote went in favor of Cécile Rubino Tessier, who received... three SBDA votes.
Two resolutions withdrawn
Senator Micheline Jacques and Alexandra Questel challenged the approval of the Usar (Search and Rescue Unit) and IBNB (Interventions on board ships and boats) capacity pact projects. According to SBDA's elected representatives, these pacts are not essential for obtaining the equipment needed by the Stis (Service territorial d'incendie et de secours). "This type of agreement is not necessary for the Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy", insists the group leader. "The deliberation does not provide for an amount, so we can validate the two deliberations, at worst, and then it's up to us to manage the thing," points out Xavier Lédée, who is again taken up by Alexandra Questel: "The deliberation provides for an amount of 41.000 euros. So we can't adopt it. Either we vote against it and it doesn't pass, or we withdraw it because we all agree that we don't want to adopt this capacity pact. "The Chairman and all the elected representatives nodded in agreement. The two resolutions were withdrawn from the agenda.
"Four lost years
Another illustration, among others, of the takeover of Saint-Barth d'Abord, during the budget vote. Alexandra Questel began by taking a swipe at a term of office that "no longer has a guideline, no longer has a direction", before declaring: "The problem we're facing isn't financial. It's a problem of governance and politics. "And to rebuke President Lédée: "A community has to be governed, and to govern is to plan (...) You have stopped so many major projects for our island, only to take them back, that today we have accumulated over twenty million euros in expenditure. It's a waste (...) This is the legacy we're leaving behind: four wasted years. "After these admonitions, the group leader declared that Saint-Barth d'Abord would vote in favor of the 2025 budget. Because it "contains projects that we have supported", she asserts, before concluding: "As you will have understood, whatever the situation, Saint-Barth d'Abord continues to pave the way. "At the end of which is the territorial election in March 2027.
The rejection of the no-confidence motion has enabled Xavier Lédée to retain his position as president. By finding common ground with SBDA, he also saved the adoption of his budget. Nevertheless, in a minority position on the territorial council, he will now have to deal with two opposition groups: Saint-Barth d'Abord, which clearly intends to impose its views and opinions, and Action-Équilibre, which will fiercely defend its status as a majority group. This will be particularly the case when the Executive Council is reconstituted in the coming weeks. To the detriment of the Action-Équilibre group? Not impossible. A matter to be followed, therefore.
------------------------------------------
Action-Équilibre, from majority to opposition
Although the break between the Action-Équilibre group and that of President Xavier Lédée was consummated many months ago, the cordial discord that until then characterized relations between the group led by Marie-Hélène Bernier and the elected representatives of Saint-Barth d'Abord has now turned to hostility.between the group led by Marie-Hélène Bernier and the elected representatives of Saint-Barth d'Abord turned into a vengeful hostility at the meeting held on Thursday March 27. The trio of Marie-Hélène Bernier, Dimitri Lédée and Pascale Minarro Baudoin took it in turns throughout the meeting to attack the group led by Alexandra Questel. This was undoubtedly a response to the position taken by the Saint-Barth d'Abord councillors on March 17, when they rejected the motion of no-confidence proposed by their Action-Équilibre counterparts. This conflict enabled President Lédée to get through the territorial council meeting in relative peace, as he was no longer the prime target of criticism from his former allies. Xavier Lédée even had the opportunity to don the role of conciliator when exchanges between Marie-Hélène Bernier and Alexandra Questel "went up in the towers".
A balanced budget of €397 million
The budget was adopted by a majority of elected representatives. Only the eight councillors from the Action-Équilibre group abstained from voting. As reported in our previous editions (1608 and 1609), the 2025 budget is balanced, with total expenditure estimated at 397.686 million euros, as is revenue. The operating budget amounts to 212.184 million euros. The capital expenditure budget stands at 185.502 million. Operating revenue includes 105.367 million euros carried forward from fiscal 2024. In the investment section, forecast revenues are balanced thanks to a transfer from the operating section of 138.262 million.
9.45 million euros for a property complex in Petit-Cul-de-Sac
The elected representatives voted to acquire a property complex of twelve apartments (1 studio, 7 T1, 3 T2 and 1 T3) located in Petit-Cul-de-Sac (parcels AZ374, 328 and 352). Although France Domaine assessed the market value of the property at 5.85 million euros, the elected members of the territorial council agreed to ratify the transaction for the sum of 9.45 million. This amount includes the fees of the real estate agency that led the negotiations (SiBarth Real Estate), as well as a valuation of 120,000 euros for the furniture. The original permit for the site dates back to 1989, and concerned premises intended to house a launderette. Since the 2000s, the site has been redeveloped as housing. In the report presented to the elected representatives, it is stated that in 2022, "a request for a sanitation inspection mentioned seven dwellings on the plot, whereas in reality there were five more". This inspection concluded that the sanitation system was non-compliant" and that "the situation remains unchanged to this day". The site has twelve parking spaces and two tanks of 100 and 200 cubic meters. "One word: expensive", commented elected representative Maxime Desouches. To questions from Dimitri Lédée and Marie-Hélène Bernier, Rudi Laplace replied that the only "heavy" work would be on the drainage system. "It's a good deal", assured the new chairman of the environment committee. The deliberation was adopted with eleven votes "for" (those of the elected members of the presidential group and Saint-Barth d'Abord), six "against" and two abstentions from the eight elected members of Action-Équilibre.
Commissions: an overhaul of chairmanships
In April 2024, Jonas Brin, Dimitri Lédée, Pascale Minarro Baudoin, David Blanchard and Maxime Desouches resigned as chairmen of their respective commissions. On Thursday March 27, elected representatives were asked to vote on the appointment of new chairmen for each of the working committees. A deliberation which led to heated exchanges. In particular, the Action-Equilibre group were keen to nominate Cécile Rubino Tessier as chair of the Social Commission, to replace Caroline Maurel, who stepped down after resigning from the territorial council. Xavier Lédée was reluctant to accept the nomination. This was because the amendment proposing Cécile Rubino Tessier's candidacy had been submitted late, but within the legal deadline. But also because the seat was promised to Marie-Angèle Aubin who, in return, agreed to cede the chairmanship of the environment commission to Rudi Laplace of Saint-Bart d'Abord. During the vote, which finally took place, the elected representatives rejected Marie-Angèle Aubin's candidacy for the social commission (10 votes "against", including two from SBDA - Micheline Jacques and Sandra Baptiste - 9 votes "for") before ratifying Marie-Angèle Aubin's nomination. for"), before endorsing Cécile Rubino Tessier's candidacy (11 "for" votes, including three from SBDA - Micheline Jacques, Sandra Baptiste and Francius Matignon - and 8 "against"). The other elected chairmen are : Olivier Gréaux for urban planning, Fabrice Querrard for regional development and modernization, Rudi Laplace for the environment, Mélissa Lake for economic affairs.
