“Is the UMP useful to the President of the Republic? For me, the answer is no,” Christian Estrosi does not beat around the bush when judging the path currently taken by the UMP. The main criticism: the leaders were not elected. The Mayor of Nice explains his vision of the majority party: “The UMP should be an interface between the commitments of the President validated by the French and their understanding by the people. The UMP is not playing this role because those who lead it lack democratic legitimacy. It is up to the activists to choose who should be brought forward, provided that person commits to a pact of total loyalty towards the President of the Republic.”
Christian Estrosi has never been as critical as since he has been away from Paris. He is no longer a minister, not yet a deputy, only president of the General Council of the Alpes-Maritimes. Last Thursday, perhaps without the expected resonance, he preempted announcements made by Nicolas Sarkozy concerning minimum service in schools during strikes. Deliberately or not? Let the speculators speculate… Christian Estrosi opposed the President’s proposal. The latter wishes to legislate on the minimum service in schools in case of a strike. A few hours before, the UMP leader from the Azurean coast contradicted him: “We should not resort to authoritarianism through law but bring people around a table. I am a man of dialogue.” This difference in viewpoint does not undermine Christian Estrosi’s attachment to Nicolas Sarkozy, whom he praises for his management of the UMP: “Nicolas Sarkozy has succeeded in bringing together people from all walks of life.”
The sole and unique target of the Mayor of Nice is the leadership of the UMP and its General Secretary Patrick Devedjian, whose name he never mentions and absolves himself from questioning his abilities: “I do not question his quality because it is not a matter of individuals.” It is thus a question of principle and democratic legitimacy towards the activists, the media, and the French:
“We always have more respect for someone we know has been chosen by 300,000 activists. If you have someone self-proclaimed, whatever their qualities which I do not question because it is not a matter of individuals, they inevitably have less authority with communication people, politicians, our movement’s executives, the French who expect from a major modern political party that its leaders have legitimacy given by the grassroots.”
Thus, Christian Estrosi wants elections at the UMP. He has been claiming and demanding this since the municipal elections. (Some say since Patrick Devedjian ordered him to choose between the mayoralty and the ministry.) Will he be a candidate? It is difficult to assert from his statements. What is certain is that he is not indifferent to this topic… He has talked about it, continues to talk about it, and will continue to talk about it as long as the UMP wanders between setbacks in the Assembly, particularly concerning the vote on GMO law, and he considers its leaders illegitimate.
