While several candidates have already clearly positioned themselves in the race for the Mayor of Nice, it is still unknown who the representatives of the major parties aiming for the seat currently occupied by Jacques Peyrat will be, who might even join the race trying to secure a third consecutive term.
If the Senator Mayor is a candidate, the question arises about the nearly indispensable UMP endorsement necessary to hope for a new lease in the large building on the street of the city hall. Certainly, Jacques Peyrat seems to have all the legitimacy to obtain the blue endorsement, but the suspense still remains total about the final intentions of Christian Estrosi, the new Secretary of State for the French Overseas Departments and Territories, whom many local activists would like to see at the top of a Nice list. Nicolas Sarkozy, hoping to garner a maximum of major municipalities in 2008, will have a crucial choice between two strong personalities of the Azurean right. If the President of the General Council were finally promoted to lead the municipal elections in Nice, it is not excluded that the current Mayor of Nice would not present himself under other colors.
On the right, Jean-Auguste Icart, whose only label is Nice, is preparing for the municipal joust to do better than the 4.72% achieved in the 2001 municipal elections. This native Niçois, son of Fernand Icart, a former minister in the government of Raymond Barre in 1977, is currently General Councillor of the Alpes-Maritimes. A bit further to the right, Alain Roullier, the regionalist of the stage, could also join the adventure attempting to exceed the 2% threshold he did not reach in 2001. Another candidate from the extreme right, Philippe Vardon, will represent for the first time the identitarians of Nice having run a trial during the last legislative elections. Other right-wing candidacies might well emerge with Gilbert Stellardo, councilor of Nice and shareholder of OGC Nice, or even a Jerome Riviere freed from his legislative obligations to fully commit to a project that has always interested him.
On the side of the New Centre, Rudy Salles seems to be the only likely candidate to represent the orange movement in the Azurean city, even if his choice to align with the presidential majority in the last presidential elections could well make him give up trying his luck in the final municipal stretch.
The extreme right-wing parties have not yet revealed the name of their favorite, and while Bruno Ligonie could represent the National Front, replacing the late Marie-France Stirbois who had reached a second round in 2001, the identity of the MNR candidate represented in 2001 by Xavier Caïtucoli (3.02%) is still unknown.
On the Left Bank side, the situation seems just as complicated with two emerging candidates who are Patrick Mottard, who narrowly missed the last municipal milestone failing at just 3% from incumbent Jacques Peyrat, and Patrick Allemand, Vice-President of the Regional Council recently defeated by Eric Ciotti in the legislative elections of the first Niçois constituency. The two men are familiar with each other but do not appreciate each other more than that, and the battle in Nice is likely to be fierce to decide who will represent the Socialist Party against the faceless UMP beast of the day. There doesn’t seem to be another major figure of the Azurean left stepping into this duel under the sun even though a Paul Cuturello or a Marc Concas regularly come back in the speeches of local activists who feel a certain sympathy for the two elected officials at the General Council. The case of Joseph Ciccolini (Diverse Left) who had obtained nearly 5% of the votes in 2001 and might well run alone again if one of the two Patricks was chosen, whereas otherwise, he could join the list of the other by bringing definite support. Finally, the sudden disappearance of the municipal and general councilor Jean-François Knecht also leaves a big void in the political landscape of Nice, and no one will ever know if the possibility of him running for Mayor of Nice was anything but a rumor. The same rumor that imagined, a few months ago, Dominique Strauss Kahn coming to try his luck in the capital of a French Riviera that he knows well for having stayed there many years.
Thus, it’s officially a start and well underway in the municipal race, and the goal is clearly in sight for all participants who first imagine themselves as candidates and then naturally as the head of the fifth largest city in France.
Municipal election results 2001
FIRST ROUND:
– Jacques PEYRAT (RPR) – 37.25%
– Patrick MOTTARD (Socialist Party) – 28.57%
– Marie-France STIRBOIS (National Front) – 11.98%
SECOND ROUND:
– Jacques PEYRAT (RPR) – 44.48% – reelected
– Patrick MOTTARD (Socialist Party) – 41.31%
