Nice Premium: Élodie Jomat, how is your legislative campaign proceeding?
Elodie Jomat: Smoothly. I’ve noticed that many candidates have yet to make an appearance while others, on the contrary, have suddenly become very active…
That won’t be the case with me. I started my campaign in December 2006 to have enough time to work with associations and meet as many citizens as possible.
NP: Could you tell us more about the creation of your campaign poster?
EJ: My slogan for this election is: “For a Modern Republic”. This is, of course, a nod to Pierre Mendès-France and his seminal book. Most importantly, it encapsulates my program which focuses on modernizing practices, institutions, and laws. By proposing notably a renovated social democracy, a refreshed representative democracy, and a widespread participatory democracy, I aim to build a Republic that is made by and for the citizens.
To symbolize this goal, in addition to my main poster, I am creating a “participatory poster”. I have invited all citizens who support my candidacy to send their photos. These will serve as the backdrop for this poster and will illustrate the slogan of my campaign.
NP: So, there will be 14 candidates. What is your analysis of the candidate announcements?
EJ: It’s notable that there are four less than in 2002. This decrease is observed in all districts.
This phenomenon is undoubtedly due to the law of April 11, 2003, which now requires that, to benefit from state funding (1.66 euros per vote collected, each year, minus penalties for non-compliance with gender parity), a party must “have presented candidates who each obtained at least 1% of the votes cast in at least fifty districts” (whereas before, it was enough to present candidates in, at least, fifty districts). Hence, there are fewer people motivated to run!
Nevertheless, it is noticeable that the current legislation has a rather regrettable perverse effect: it forces parties to present a substantial number of candidates in order to benefit from public funding. As a result, some of them are motivated solely by the financial returns for their party!
NP: 6 candidates said to be from the left. Don’t you think that’s a bit too many?
EJ: My candidacy, presented by PRG, is supported by the PS and MRC; that’s already not bad! This union is symbolized by the presence, by my side, of Jaky Delahaye (PS) as my deputy and Ladislas Polski (MRC) as a member of my support committee.
In principle, far-left candidates do not bother me because I do not think we share the same electorate.
On the other hand, the proposals of the two ecologist candidates might overlap with mine.
NP: Who do you imagine making it to the second round?
EJ: It would be an insult to the citizens of the 3rd district to predict the results of the first round in advance!
NP: What events do you have coming up in the next few days?
EJ: I have organized or participated in numerous meetings, participatory debates, meetings for change, and apartment meetings and I think I have reached all the citizens I could through these means.
I am not a fan of public meetings where the participants are generally already supporters of the candidate and play a passive role.
So, I intend to intensify my movements on the ground and door-to-door campaigning to continue meeting citizens.
NP: Finally, if you had to summarize the main points of your program?
I want to modernize political practices: I will not meet with citizens in an office; it will be me who goes out to meet them, I will hold only one mandate, and I will continually consult citizens through public forums and my website.
I want to modernize the institutions: I will work for a VI Republic and I support the creation of a European constituent assembly made up of deputies specially elected in each country to draft a real Constitution for Europe.
I want to modernize the laws: I plan to strengthen equal opportunity, deepen all forms of solidarity, defend new freedoms, and protect our environment.
My program is detailed on my interactive website:
https://www.elodie-jomat.fr
