Français
Barely three episodes. In the end, the so-called "soap opera of the summer" was short-lived. At 8 a.m. on Saturday August 2, the elected members of the Territorial Council voted by a majority to adopt the single financial account (CFU), initially rejected at the June 27 and 30 meetings. With ten votes in favor, seven against and one abstention, the elected representatives validated the document before ratifying the allocation of the final 2024 operating result with fourteen votes "for", four "against" and one abstention. The Collectivité territoriale's budgetary process has now resumed its normal course, since the Chambre territoriale des comptes, in a document dated July 31, states that the procedure for referring the matter to its departments, i.e. their examination of the CFU, "is closed". However, political tensions remain within the governance structure.
Rejection vote confirmed by Action-Équilibre elected representatives
On leaving the meeting, the elected members of the Action-Équilibre group justified their opposition to the adoption of the CFU (with the exception of David Blanchard, who abstained) by pointing out thatthey have still not received satisfactory answers to the questions put to President Xavier Lédée at the territorial council meetings of June 27 and 30. The questions concerned not only the exhaustion of the budget for travel by elected representatives and staff, but also the contractual situation of theformer cabinet assistant to the first vice-president (Marie-Hélène Bernier, leader of the Action-Équilibre group), who now works in President Lédée's cabinet.
Saint-Barth d'Abord: "The facts relayed by the President remain unclear".
For its part, the Saint-Barth d'Abord group, led by Alexandra Questel, explains its vote on Saturday August 2 as follows: "The departments have provided answers to the questions we raised. Why was the CFU transmitted without signature? Why is there a difference between the budget lines? And the list of documents requested by the Chambre Territoriale des Comptes. While the facts relayed by the President remain unclear in many respects, we have nonetheless taken the decision to vote in favor of the corrected CFU. Without this vote, the Collectivité would have found itself at an impasse, this time with no clear way out, as no majority has emerged despite the feedback from the Chambre Territoriale des Comptes."
The President's "assumed choice
In an online publication dated yesterday, Friday August1, on his Facebook accounts and that of his Unis pour Saint-Barthélemy group, Xavier Lédée explained that that if the single financial account had been sent to the Prefect without having been signed by the public accountant, it was "by choice". The President of the Collectivité assures us that he deliberately proceeded in this way "so as not to delay the analysis of the document by the State services and to limit the impact on Saint-Barthélemy's businesses and economy". He adds in the same publication: "In accordance with regulations, the Collectivité has fifteen days from the vote of the territorial council to transmit the final single financial account, signed by all parties, to the prefecture."Xavier Lédée adds: "The version signed by the public accountant was sent to the Chambre territoriale des comptes on Wednesday July 9.
Xavier Lédée "surprised" by the Prefect's letter
At this Saturday's territorial council meeting, President Lédée said he was "surprised" by the letter sent to him on on July 28 from the Prefect, Cyrille Le Vely, in which the representative of the State in Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin wrote: "My attention has just been drawn by the CTC to two difficulties: the budget document sent to me has not been signed by the public accountant, and there is a discrepancy between the provisional document submitted and the document re-edited in the Egf software."In his letter, Cyrille Le Vely invited President Lédée to convene a territorial council meeting "as soon as possible" in order to submit the final CFU to the assembly for approval.
"Everything back to normal
Questioned after the meeting on Saturday August 2, Xavier Lédée declared: "Everything is back in order, there was no subject on this CFU and everyone understood that these were just political questions. The Chambre territoriale des comptes has received the information it requested. It didn't take a position on a technical detail, but the elected representatives were given all the necessary information, and I think that's what enabled some of them to change their vote today."For the Chairman, the letter from the Prefect was in no way "prejudicial". He refers to "a computer error" and adds: "Things like this can happen, and it's neither the fault of the agents nor that of the treasurer. As there was this concern, the Chambre territoriale des comptes, rather than issuing an opinion, asked that it be sent back so that the elected representatives would be fully aware that something had been changed at the margin, on the document, without any accounting impact."
Legal turbulence ahead
As a result, one month after the CFU's double rejection, the CTC has been relieved of its authority and considers the procedure closed, while the Territorial Council has validated its CFU. "The CTC is no longer concerned by anything," confirms Xavier Lédée. The potential budget tsunami announced has thus turned into a ripple. On the other hand, other turbulence awaits governance.
In the boardroom, no doubt, but also in the courts. A number of cases are currently under investigation, notably involving Chairman Xavier Lédée and his first Vice-Chairman, Marie-Hélène Bernier. Cases to watch.
Details of the vote on the Single Financial Account (CFU)
On Saturday August 2, the elected members of the Territorial Council voted by a majority to adopt the final CFU. Seven councillors were absent from the meeting: Marie-Hélène Bernier (1st vice-president), Bettina Cointre, Cécile Rubino Tessier, Romaric Magras, Mélissa Lake, Rudi Laplace and Sandra Baptiste. All had given their proxies to elected members of their respective groups. Chairman Xavier Lédée was unable to take part in the CFU vote and left the room. The elected members of his group, Unis pour Saint-Barthélemy (Marie-Angèle Aubin,3rd vice-president, Olivier Gréaux, Fabrice Querrard and Mélissa Lake) voted in favor, as did those from Saint-Barthélemy.Those of Saint-Barth d'Abord (Francius Matignon,2nd vice-president, Alexandra Questel,4th vice-president, Senator Micheline Jacques, Romaric Magras, Rudi Laplace and Sandra Baptiste). Seven elected members of Action-Équilibre (Marie-Hélène Bernier, Bettina Cointre, Maxime Desouches, Jonas Brin, Pascale Minarro Baudoin, Cécile Rubino Tessier and Dimitri Lédée) voted "against", while David Blanchard abstained.
The five elected members of the presidential group, six from Saint-Barth d'Abord and three from Action-Équilibre voted in favor of the allocation of the final operating result for 2024. Marie-Hélène Bernier, Jonas Brin, Pascale Minarro Baudoin and Cécile Rubino Tessier voted "against", while David Blanchard abstained.
