Next Sunday, LR members will elect the departmental president of their party.
An election without stakes in the Alpes-Maritimes since there will be only one candidate, the MP Eric Ciotti, as the outgoing president Christian Estrosi has chosen not to run again.
It is known that the two politicians, once very close, have parted ways and over time their rivalry has turned into ostracism from one towards the other.
The sole candidate had called for using this election for a clarification – “I proposed a debate with Christian Estrosi. He refused. I wish for this debate and I await it with serenity.”
According to the statement from Marine Brenier, herself an MP and a loyal supporter of Christian Estrosi, it has escalated to outright censorship, depriving her of the floor during an electoral meeting in Castagniers.
The person concerned, according to the local newspaper, defends himself and stated that he did not “respond to petty grotesque provocations.”
Eric Ciotti, who supports the “hardline,” has always advocated authority. In any case, he should not confuse it with authoritarianism because, from “ism” to “ism,” one risks ending up in a bad place.
In any case, it bodes well for the future of this party!
This Sunday, the activists of the 5th constituency of the Alpes-Maritimes were invited to a public meeting organized by the sole candidate for the presidency of the Les Républicains Federation of the Alpes-Maritimes.
While he claims to advocate unity, Eric CIOTTI did not allow me to speak! For the first time, in my constituency and in my political family, I am being censored even as I came to deliver a message of unity and appeasement.
What does this refusal indicate if not the double-dealing of Eric CIOTTI? Even before the sole candidate is elected, he refuses any discussion, he bans debate and dialogue. One can legitimately fear that such attitudes will further plunge our political family into a cycle of failure. I can only regret and firmly condemn this ideological blindness which is not worthy of our party and its history.
I look enviously at certain Les Républicains federations where debates have been initiated so that the members can choose the candidate who resembles them. The Alpes-Maritimes could have, given their number of members, been exemplary in this democratic exercise.
It is not the case…
Marine Brenier, MP for the 5th constituency of the Alpes-Maritimes
