Go-to Option for fading politicians

The common Indian political taunt to emigrate next door is not as far-fetched or impossible as people might imagine. While hopping across borders for a fresh political future is highly unfeasible on the Indian subcontinent, Europe appears to be charting a new course with the former prime minister of one country attempting to start anew by standing in the local elections of another country.

Whether he wins or not, former prime minister of France Manuel Valls’ candidature for the 2019 mayoral elections of Barcelona — the city of his birth — certainly opens up new avenues for politicians who may have reached the end of the road in their current countries.

After all, all EU citizens have the right to vote and stand for municipal and European Parliament elections even if they are not nationals of that EU country unless any nation restricts local government heads’ eligibility to its own citizens or has a period of residence requirement.


Maybe Valls has been inspired by the political trajectory of the controversial former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. He was granted citizenship of neighbouring Ukraine by its president Petro Poroshenko and appointed governor of Odessa in 2015, but by 2017, had become a major opposition leader there. Political rebirth via emigration for fading netas could be a favoured go-to option one day.