Called “lazy and violent” in Quotidien, Kléber Mesquida, president of the Hérault Department, responds to Jean-Michel Aphatie

La réponse de Kléber Mesquida à Jean-Michel Aphatie. MAXPPP et Midi Libre

After the reduction in operating grants in the field of culture for 2025 in the Hérault Department, its president Kléber Mesquida is criticized. The journalist Jean-Michel Aphatie devoted some time to him in his column…

Drastic cuts in funding for culture. The Hérault Department has reduced operating grants in this field for 2025.

After denying that the reduction would not be 100% as mentioned in an article in Libération on Tuesday, January 28, Kléber Mesquida, the president of the Hérault Department, was criticized on the subject by Jean-Michel Aphatie in the Quotidien program broadcast on Wednesday, January 29 on TMC.

And the columnist did not mince his words to describe Kléber Mesquida, the one who is at the head of the Hérault community.

“Hop, 100% of the budget in the trash”

“Kléber Mesquida is 79 years old, he chairs the General Council of Hérault. So all the local authorities including the General Council of Hérault have financial problems. So he took the Culture budget, 6 million euros out of a budget of 2 billion euros, he cut everything. Hop 100% of the Culture budget thrown in the trash.”

Before adding: “Mesquida, lazy, violent, hop, everything, 100% of the budget in the trash.Frankly, I don't know if we can manage local authorities like that. It's a bit strange, there must be other ways, it seems to me, to make savings.”

Mesquida's response via Facebook

“Without being apathetic, if I were violent would I have had the confidence of the majority of voters in 14 consecutive elections since 1977 ?”

“You who also call me Lazy, I invite you on this level to follow me more than 60 hours per week, time that I devote to the Res Publica, the public thing.”

And to continue: “From then on, I don't have time to rush, neither to lick the microphones, nor to satisfy a narcissism in front of the camera…”

And to conclude: “The controversy not being my amniotic bath, I leave this pleasure of verbiage to those who earn their living with it…”

In the meantime, even if comments are free, the Culture budget is still largely cut…

I subscribe to read the rest