It seems that the 2008 municipal election has one more participant in the person of Alain Mourguy, whom we have already introduced on Nice Première during his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election.
Nice Première: Jacques Peyrat is once again a candidate for re-election. What are your thoughts?
Alain Mourguy: Mr. Jacques Peyrat has no objective reason not to run again for the mayor of Nice, as it is each individual’s free choice, and it does not seem proven to me that others would have done better, though it remains possible.
Personally, I have nothing to reproach Mr. Peyrat for except perhaps some undeniably excessive language at times, but that is part of the man.
It is clear that the success or failure of the “tramway” will play a key role in this election. My opinion here is also mixed; barring any mistake or oversight on my part, I have only heard discussions about the tramway’s route, but neither the opposition nor the current majority have really challenged this construction. I say that this “tramway” should have been built fifteen years ago; now it is too late.
It will take years for Nice to regain real tourism, as the city is nothing but a massive construction site. I would have preferred to do without the tramway and improve the existing normal transport. For me, it’s as if tomorrow the Principality of Monaco decided to make a mini tramway on its territory—goodbye to the Monegasque economy… But once again, I am equally critical of both camps. Moreover, who really knows today when this tramway will be operational if it ever is?
NP: Will you be one of his opponents in the next municipal elections?
AM: To run for the Mayor of Nice, being known to deputies, ministers, but absolutely not to the citizens, I must meet an essential condition: obtain the signatures for the first round of the 2007 presidential election.
If that is the case, and I believe it is, it is evident that I will be a candidate for the Mayor of Nice, not as an opponent—the term doesn’t appeal to me since I advocate for governmental gender diversity. I will propose the same to the people of Nice; once again, valuable women and men are found in both camps.
Why deprive ourselves of guiding France and, even more so, a city like Nice?
NP: If so, what are the main points of your project for the city of Nice?
AM: The problem for the mayor elected in 2008 will already be to assess the tramway situation, then, with the real consultation of all elected officials in the majority, decide the major directions to give or adjust for our city.
I believe it is the work of a team, the Mayor in my view should be the coordinator of this team—it is in this way that ALL citizens will feel listened to and represented.
I do indeed challenge the absolute power of a woman or a man to decide the fate of the citizens.
Here too, it is about bringing to the city of Nice what I wish for France, the real representativeness of the citizens, notably through referendums.
NP: Who do you think will be the other candidates in this election?
AM: As for the other candidates, I would refrain from making predictions, indeed depending on which President France chooses, it will obviously be different, some politicians might have an even stronger national role if their “leader” is elected president, so any prediction is derisory or even absurd at this point.
NP: Do you not think that a coalition of forces might be a good solution for the left in the next Nice election?
AM: The coalition of left forces seems to me a utopia while it would be their only solution to win, but power does not like to be shared, considering myself neither right nor left, nor centrist, nor extremist, it is therefore their problem. I want women and men from the republican parties of the right and left, zusammen to form the real city council of the city with key positions distributed equally to each camp.
It is not utopian; Germany had just been forced into it, why should we also wait to be forced by a crisis during the elections?
Let’s do it before, knowingly, in a reflective manner.
NP: Can you introduce us to the main members of your team?
AM: My team is supported by numerous small town halls in France that are far from the “right-left” war, by businesses on the national level, by women and men, some of whom are known to the public but who will only reveal themselves in a few months, which is normal, so much can happen by spring 2007.
NP: If you had to play the oracle, who would be the trio for a possible second round and who would be the winner?
AM: As for a trio for the second round, indeed, it is almost science fiction to want to answer this question, Mr. Peyrat will be part of it in my opinion, if I had the possibility of being a candidate in the first presidential round 2007, I will be part of it, with doubtless a personality from the left but I will certainly not make a prediction on his/her name, I do not claim at all to be the Mayor of Nice in 2008, but being a candidate for the Presidency will ensure me to “weigh” in the political life of Nice.
NP: Your wish on the evening of the 2008 municipal elections?
AM: Finally, my wish is that the city of Nice can have a municipal team with an open mind focused on the future, (for the future will be made outside the right-left divide), therefore I wish for a team of good will that can truly work together, at the service of the people of Nice, I maintain that it is possible and that it is anyway the future of any democratic country to break away from divides.
