After participating in 17 of the 130 debates organized in the Alpes-Maritimes, Cédric Roussel, the Macronist and Nice deputy, has developed the conviction that there will have been a “before” and, more importantly, there will be an “after”: “President Macron’s decision to give citizens a voice was a good response to the Yellow Vests movement. During my participation, I was able to see that citizens needed to express themselves far beyond the themes or slogans of the protest. In turn, I was able to educate and explain that issues should be evaluated in their entirety and not segmented based on particular interest,” he declared at a press briefing.
Clearly enthusiastic about this hands-on experience, Cédric Roussel calls for “daily democracy”: “we have entered the time for returning ideas and proposals resulting from the Grand Debate, and then will come the time for implementation. However, in this meantime, we must not lose the proximity between elected officials and citizens on local issues.”
How, in what form? For the Nice deputy, who has developed a taste for diving into the subject, there is no model: “everyone will organize this citizen phase as they see fit, the essential thing is to encourage active reflection.”
Cédric Roussel will be supported by Khaled Ben Abderrahmane, a former socialist turned “En Marche” candidate who unsuccessfully ran for the legislative elections in 2017, who will organize and co-host this initiative.
