Davy Rimane

Davy Rimane (born 15 December 1979) is a French politician and labor activist. Rimane was elected to represent French Guiana's 2nd constituency in the 2022 French legislative election. He had previously contested the seat in the 2017 legislation election as well as the 2018 by-election.^[1]

Davy Rimane
Member of the National Assembly for Guyane's 2nd constituency
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 June 2022
Preceded by	Lénaïck Adam
Personal details
Born	(1979-12-15) 15 December 1979 (age 45) Kourou, French Guiana
Political party	La France Insoumise

Early life and education

Rimane was born in Kourou in 1979, the same year Ariane 1 held its maiden flight at the Guiana Space Centre located within the town. He is the grand-nephew of Eustaste Rimane, who was the town's mayor for 42 years, from 1953 to 1995.^[2] Rimane later became a hydraulic exploitation technician at EDF Guyane.^[3]

Activism and local politics

During the 2017 social unrest in French Guiana, Rimane led the Kolectif pou lagwiyann dékolé movement as its spokesperson.^[4][5] As a labor organizer, Rimane is a member of the EDF Guyane trade union.^[6] He has also served as general secretary of the Union of Guianese Workers (UTG).^[7]

In 2020, Rimane was elected to be a local councilor in Kourou.^[1]

National Assembly of France

2017 election

In 2017, Rimane contested the election for French Guiana's 2nd constituency as the candidate of La France Insoumise. Rimane was narrowly defeated in the second round of the election by Lénaïck Adam of La République En Marche!.

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Lénaïck Adam	LREM	3,595	36.44	6,670	50.21
	Davy Rimane	LFI	2,001	20.28	6,614	49.79
Source: Ministry of the Interior, political parties

2018 by-election

Main article: 2018 French Guiana's 2nd constituency by-election

Following his defeat, Rimane appealed the results of the election to the Constitutional Council, claiming to have identified voting irregularities during the count.^[8] Adam's election was invalidated on 8 December 2017 by the Constitutional Council, leading to a March 2018 by-election for the seat.

Due to the close result in the 2017 contest, a number of leading left-wing figures campaigned for Rimane in the by-election. LFI leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon visited French Guiana to campaign for Rimane, and was accompanied by Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Younous Omarjee and FI deputy Danièle Obono.^[9][10] Rimane also received the support of Gabriel Serville, the member of the National Assembly for French Guiana's 2nd constituency.^[11] Adam ultimately defeated Rimane by a narrow 50.65% to 49.35% margin.

Candidate		Party	First round			Second round
			Votes	%	+/–	Votes	%	+/–
	Lénaïck Adam	LREM	5,927	43.10	+6.65	8,320	50.65	+0.44
	Davy Rimane	LFI	4,830	35.12	+14.84	8,107	49.35	–0.44
Source: Préfecture de la Guyane, Préfecture de la Guyane

2022 election

In April 2022, Rimane formally confirmed his intention to contest the seat for a third time in the 2022 French legislative election.^[12] As a candidate, he pledged to sit in the New Ecologic and Social People's Union (NUPES) group within the National Assembly.^[13] Rimane defeated Adam in the second round of voting by a margin of 54.12% to 45.88%.^[14][15]

Personal life

Rimane is known to be a fan of football, and plays for the local Kourou town hall COS team. He has three children.^[1]

References

1. "Davy Rimane remporte la bataille législative dans la seconde circonscription et en devient le nouveau député". Guyane la 1ère (in French). 18 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
2. "Guyane : neuf candidats à la législative partielle". Europe 1 (in French). 10 February 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
3. "Davy Rimane : "Je suis un citoyen engagé qui a choisi de s'impliquer politiquement"". Guyaweb, site d'information et d'investigation en Guyane (in French). 8 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
4. "Castaner et Mélenchon en Guyane avant une législative partielle à fort enjeu". Outre-Mer 1ère. Agence France-Presse. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
5. Marie-Claude Thébia (12 February 2018). "Législative partielle : 9 candidats et un siège". Guyane 1ère. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
6. "Guyane : neuf candidats à la législative partielle". Europe 1. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
7. Marie-Claude Thébia (1 March 2018). "Législative partielle : portraits de candidats (3)". Guyane 1ère. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
8. "Guyane: Davy Rimane dépose un recours contre l'élection de Lenaïck Adam aux législatives". Outre-Mer 1ère. Agence France-Presse. 29 June 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
9. Mathilde Siraud (23 February 2018). "Castaner et Mélenchon en campagne en Guyane". Le Figaro. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
10. "Mélenchon en Guyane pour soutenir Davy Rimane avant la législative". Outre-Mer 1ère. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
11. "Législatives partielles en Guyane : Deux nouveaux soutiens pour Davy Rimane". Outremers360. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
12. "Davy Rimane est candidat aux législatives". Mo News - Hebdomadaire d'informations de la Guyane (in French). 28 April 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
13. "Législatives 2022 : ce qu'il faut savoir sur Davy Rimane, candidat dans la seconde circonscription de Guyane". Guyane la 1ère (in French). 3 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
14. "Davy Rimane remporte la bataille législative dans la seconde circonscription et en devient le nouveau député". Guyane la 1ère (in French). 18 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
15. "Législatives 2022 : Jean-Victor Castor et Davy Rimane nouveaux députés de Guyane - Les résultats globaux des deux circonscriptions". Guyane la 1ère (in French). 18 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.