Christian Estrosi’s resignation from the position of mayor and his replacement by his first deputy Philippe Pradal continues to fuel the local political scene.
It is also an opportunity for controversy and, for some, to remove a few “small” stones from their shoes.
This is the case of former mayor Jacques Peyrat who has never digested Christian Estrosi’s “betrayal” and the defection of other advisors who took sides with the one who ungraciously took his place.
Having retired from political life after unsuccessfully trying to return through local elections, the former mayor has nonetheless lost none of his vigor and oratory skills in denouncing the “obliged” decision of his successor to step down by installing his first deputy, who will become… the first deputy!
Jacques Peyrat calls for a return to the polls and justifies it: “A true mayor of Nice must and can only be chosen by all the citizens of Nice.”
He recalls a similar situation in 1990, after Jacques Médecin’s departure, when, as opposition leader, he himself called for the resignation of the current administration and the election of a new team and a new mayor.
At that time, he found an ally in Christian Estrosi, who, although a member of the majority, resigned from the Council to provoke new elections.
“Politics demands acts of courage,” he declared then.
Times change and – says the former mayor – so do behaviors. Hence, the moral condemnation and accusation of opportunism.
L’Entente Républicaine and its president Hervé de Surville are launching a petition to denounce this farce of the municipal council co-opting a mayor not chosen by the people of Nice and to demand the mass resignation of Christian Estrosi’s majority, with a return to the polls to elect the mayor for the coming four years.
This political movement, not represented in the Municipal Council, has found in the opposition municipal councilor Célia GEORGES someone who can voice the concerns of L’Entente in denouncing such a sham scheduled on the agenda of the upcoming Monday’s municipal council meeting.
