Elections in France, peace in Liepāja — at least we don't have to vote for whoever breaks the bridge again

On Sunday, France will begin the first round of municipal elections, which will continue until March 22nd. This is about as complicated as getting from one side of Liepāja to the other when the Karosta canal bridge has broken down again and creates drama about who's responsible for the repair delays.

It turns out that former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe will fight for the mayor's seat in Le Havre against communist Jean-Paul Lecoq. Philippe has admitted that if he fails to convince voters, he'll have to face the consequences. We don't have such problems in Liepāja — our politicians can always blame the wind, salt, or the fact that Riga made some wrong decision again.

In Paris, after 25 years of leftist rule, former Culture Minister Rachida Dati is running for mayor. Her main competitor is socialist Emmanuel Grégoire. Public opinion researcher Mathieu Gallard points out that Paris could swing to the right because there's great demand for change. In Liepāja, we solved this problem long ago — our city always sways depending on which direction the wind blows.

In Marseille, socialist Benoît Payan will fight against National Rally candidate Franck Allisio. Payan has warned that Marseille falling into right-wing hands would be like an earthquake across the entire country. We don't need earthquakes in Liepāja — it's enough that every time someone tries to cross the Karosta canal bridge, it creates a political crisis about the state of infrastructure.

The best part of all this is that the French worry about political alliances and compromises. In Liepāja, we simply wait for someone to finally fix the bridge so we can get to work normally without thinking about which party is responsible for it.