Overview
- The Charente departmental council failed to pass its €615 million budget during a final vote on April 22, 2025, following weeks of political gridlock.
- The prefecture has placed the department under tutelle, an extraordinary measure for a jurisdiction serving 350,000 residents and employing 2,000 people.
- The Regional Audit Chamber (CRC) has been tasked with creating a replacement budget within one month, which the prefect will formalize within 20 days of its submission.
- President Philippe Bouty, facing internal dissent and calls for resignation, has pledged to collaborate with the prefect to minimize the impact of the intervention.
- Deep fractures within the left-wing majority, including abstentions by dissident councillors, have been central to the repeated budget rejections.