Christophe Mirmand, Prefect of Alpes-Maritimes, will preside over the commemorative ceremony organized as part of the National Day of Remembrance and Reflection in memory of the civilian and military victims of the Algerian War and the fighting in Tunisia and Morocco, this Tuesday, March 19, 2013, at 3 PM at the Monument aux Morts in the city of Nice, on Rauba Capeu quay.
Unfortunately, this event has become an opportunity to highlight the political positioning of each party: The left being in favor, while the right is obviously against.
If the position of the Prefect is one that does not lend itself to criticism, (I organize an official ceremony and invite everyone), the absence of the Mayor of Nice, the president of the General Council, and other deputies, all members of the Parliament that voted this law, can, on the other hand, be subject to serious criticism insofar as a national law will not be respected by elected representatives who should represent all citizens and not just one political tendency.
Patrick Allemand, the leader of the local Socialist Party, criticized Christian Estrosi’s behavior by reminding him that “à la carte laws” do not exist. A fair remark, except that we might be surprised by his surprise: Does he not know that the pied-noir electorate is quite influential in Nice and the region, and that neither Christian Estrosi nor Eric Ciotti, who benefit from it, intend to give it up a year before the municipal elections, so as not to let these voters shift to the extreme right? Has he already forgotten the public exclamation “Long live French Algeria” that the Mayor of Nice made a few months ago on the occasion of a Repatriates’ event, which was covered by Nice Premium and picked up by the national press.
Eric Ciotti, in a statement, also formalized his absence: “The choice of March 19 by the current Government as a day of commemoration of the end of the Algerian War constitutes a moral fault and an insult to the memory of all those who disappeared and died in the months following the signing of the Évian Accords. For all these reasons, I will not participate in this day of commemoration; the General Council of Alpes-Maritimes will not send any representative.”
During the municipal council on Friday, the deputy-mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, also expressed his disagreement on this date, considering it a “denial of truth.” He indicated that he would not associate himself, “like the majority elected officials, with the ceremony that the prefect is organizing.” Last February, he had already announced that he would not display flags on public buildings in the city on March 19, as all the prefectures in France were asked to do.
