Description

Libourne is a commune of 25,000 inhabitants in the south-west of France, located in the Gironde department of which it is one of the sub-prefectures, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

Libourne is a sub-metropolitan municipality of Bordeaux, and in 2015 it adopted an urban project, "Libourne 2025-La Confluente", to support its development in a coordinated manner.

In September 2020, for the first time, the Libourne City Council experimented with the right of citizens to question elected officials. This right, granted to citizens, is part of the municipality's desire to put forward each inhabitant as a player in their city. The aim is to ensure that everyone can develop an active citizenship, in the service of the general interest.

Through this right of interpellation, the Municipal Council undertakes to take a position on the questions raised by the people of Libourne, and according to the debate that follows, to follow up on the citizens' proposals in order to put them into practice.

The process

After each municipal council, 30 minutes are devoted (with the exception of budgetary councils and exceptional councils) to the questioning of citizens according to a very precise procedure:

1. The citizen has 3 minutes to ask his question to the members of the Municipal Council.
2. The members of the Municipal Council provide their answers (5 minutes of expression for the majority group and 5 minutes of expression for the opposition group). 
3. At the end of this debate, the Mayor proposes the follow-up to the question.
4. Questions not put to the municipal council on the date of the questioning are answered by the majority and opposition groups within 15 days of the date of the municipal council.

The modalities : 

• The question must be eligible 

Conditions for accepting the question asked:

1. The subject of the question asked must fall within the competence of the municipality, be of general interest, and not in any way be of a nominative, discriminatory or insulting nature.

2. No question relating to an item on the agenda of a municipal council during the current term of office or relating to a question that has been finally settled may be examined.

3. No interpellation may be formulated from the first day of the year preceding the renewal of the Municipal Council.

• The question must be asked via the citizens' interpellation form

The question appears on the Citizen's Interpellation site 1 to 2 working days after the date of sending the form. It is dated on the day it was sent.

• Depending on the date the question was sent, the citizen is contacted by the city of Libourne to ask it during the next municipal council. The officials contact the citizen 5 days before the date of the Municipal Council.

The selection of questions asked at the municipal council is made according to the chronological order in which they are sent. However, in the event of exceptional events or situations, the questions relating to them are given priority.

No interpellation may be tabled in the five clear days preceding a council municipal meeting.

Sources (in french) : 

Citizen's interpellation

Questions from the people of Libourne

Citizen's questioning form

Official website of the City of Libourne : Libourne.fr