Renaud Muselier, who has been the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region since May 2017, has resigned from his position after being elected as a senator in the Bouches-du-Rhône department on Sunday. He officially announced his resignation during a press conference on September 28, explaining that he had made a personal commitment to step down from his regional role if elected to the Senate. This decision follows rules that prevent individuals from holding multiple political mandates at the same time. Muselier will continue to serve as a regional councilor, focusing on areas such as European funding, preparations for the 2030 Olympic Games, and matters related to the Bouches-du-Rhône department. Muselier has called for an extraordinary full assembly of the regional council to be held on October 12 to elect his successor. He has expressed a preference for François de Canson, the current vice-president of the region and mayor of La Londe-les-Maures in the Var department, to take over. De Canson, who previously served as third vice-president of the regional council and as president of the regional tourism committee, has said he is "ready" to take on the new role but emphasized that he would not simply be a "clone" of Muselier, suggesting he would bring his own style and priorities. Christian Estrosi, who was president of the region from 2015 to 2019, will serve as interim president for two weeks. Estrosi had stepped down from the presidency to become mayor of Nice but later lost that position to Eric Ciotti. Some observers speculate that Estrosi may be considering a return to the presidency, although he has not officially confirmed this. A former deputy mayor of Nice, quoted by BFMTV, suggested that Estrosi is "thinking about it, obviously." The election for the new regional president is scheduled for October 12, in line with the General Code of Territorial Collectivities, which sets a maximum delay of 15 days after a president's term ends. The regional council currently has 84 seats, with the RN-UDR-I group holding 39. In 2021, Muselier was re-elected with 57.3% of the vote, and in 2015, Estrosi won with 54.8%. Muselier, who previously belonged to the LR party but moved to the Macron camp in 2022, has stated his intention to lead the "fight" for a unified right and center candidate in the 2027 presidential election. He described his successor as a mayor from a large department, who was head of the list in the last regional elections and has been elected and re-elected in their commune and its intercommunality. However, some members of the regional majority have expressed concerns that Muselier's "Macronist" approach may be too extreme for parts of the majority. There are also doubts about whether François de Canson is the right person to continue Muselier's political line, according to anonymous comments cited in La Provence. The potential for a split within the right ahead of the upcoming regional elections remains a possibility.