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Anti-Drug Activist Amine Kessaci Joins Marseille Mayor Payan’s Slate Ahead of 2026 Vote

Polls show a tight race that has turned public safety into the campaign’s central test.

Overview

  • Amine Kessaci, 22, announced he will run on Benoît Payan’s Printemps marseillais list and is set to be placed high on the central slate in an eligible position.
  • He says his goal is to make Marseille a national showcase in the fight against narcotraffic and plans to launch a mayors’ association on the issue after the election.
  • Kessaci promotes a global approach pairing proximity policing with stronger public services in education, housing and transport rather than relying solely on repression.
  • Recent coverage reports Payan and RN candidate Franck Allisio running neck and neck as security and drug trafficking shape voter priorities in France’s second-largest city.
  • Payan cites a record of doubling municipal police from 350 to 700 officers and pledges to double them again, while Kessaci campaigns under police protection and often wears a bulletproof vest.