The chosen place was symbolic (the former port of Carros, now a beach and boules court, evoking the good times of yesteryear), the day was bright, the camaraderie of a gathering among friends, the scenography arranged by the city and metropolis officials positioned in a circle…
In short, all the conditions were met for the official declaration of candidacy by the outgoing deputy of the 5th constituency, Christian Estrosi, and the presentation of his deputy, Dr. Alain Frère, mayor of Tourrette-Levens, Vice-President of the General Council, and Vice-President of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis (“we share the same convictions,” said the mayor of Nice about his deputy).
And it was a pyrotechnic explosion of lyrical flights punctuated by chest-thumping that transformed this simple weekend event into a high-intensity electoral rally.
Everything was said: a sharp and preventive critique of the future failures of the new President of the Republic, a call to Nicolas Sarkozy to return to affairs “because France needs him,” but above all, the desire for this election to be the starting point for the “reconquest of France.”
Naturally… Nice can only be the cradle of this movement, being itself the city and department the most “anti-Hollande” in France with percentages well beyond 60%. This makes this election in this constituency more of a “walk in the park” than an electoral campaign for Christian Estrosi, useful more for maintaining political form than worrying about his opponents.
The outgoing deputy and candidate for his own succession recalled his first election in 1988 which made him the youngest member of the National Assembly. And he revisited some moments from his career, always inspired by the maxim “I say what I do and I do what I say.”
A deputy of proximity (as Christian Estrosi wanted to define himself) due to his perfect knowledge of the territory and its problems and concerned about the future (?) application of the prohibition on holding multiple offices which should be introduced by the new National Assembly resulting from these elections, which would prevent the necessary synergy between fieldwork and legislative activity.
Indeed, if you look at the number of elected officials holding two (or more) public functions, you understand that this measure would be anything but inconsequential for many, many of them.
An additional particularly interesting note: in the coming months, the UMP will be called to renew its hierarchy and define its new organizational chart. The mayor of Nice intends to exert all his electoral weight (Alpes-Maritimes is the second federation after Île-de-France) and expressed his position referring to Gaullism and Sarkozysm.
The final call for “resistance, to the weapons of conviction, to the defense of France, to the fight and to the reconquest” provided the dramatic final touch as appreciated by the emulators of Shakespearean theater.
But, fortunately, the wine of friendship and a good socca were the much more festive continuation of the evening.
