We receive this interesting contribution from Fabien Benard, the departmental president of the MoDem. On the surface, everything seems to be going smoothly, but beyond the well-rounded and well-crafted statements, a first obstacle looms on the horizon: The formation of joint lists with the UMP that the UDI has already decided on and which the MoDem would like to avoid by deciding on a case-by-case basis.
It is believed that while in Cannes, support for the Isnard list will be unequivocal, in Menton, it is the socialist Pascale Gerard who will receive the support of the MoDem. And what about Nice where the UDI 06 president is firmly rooted in the alliance with the UMP and is one of the key figures in Christian Estrosi’s team?
Will these distinctions have the effect of undermining the harmonious atmosphere expected at a wedding? Because, if one begins not to understand each other during the honeymoon… the future will be much more challenging!
The floor is now with Fabien Benard…
“Fortunately, the Alternative has been launched after a somewhat prolonged media sequence. With courage and clarity, Jean-Louis Borloo and François Bayrou, by uniting, silence the ‘ego-centrics.’ We are pleased that the conditions for the reconstitution of an independent Centre have finally been met.
I have, and my friends and I have a lot of pleasure in reconnecting with members of the centrist family that we should not have left six years ago. But the leaderships of the UDI and the MoDem in the Alpes-Maritimes have not yet met. There is still everything to discuss and build, to define this cooperation locally.
From now on, the UDi MoDem cooperation will work for the European, regional, and new territorial elections and, of course, the Presidential election.
For the municipal elections, things are already too advanced, and the Charter of the Alternative does not provide for an agreement at this deadline. There is a territorial logic and local realities that we cannot ignore, practices that we can validate. We reaffirm our desire to build Majorities of expectations for the municipal elections. I quote the Charter of the Alternative: ‘Nevertheless we believe that the country needs a large reformative majority, going not only from the republican right to the Centre but also to the ecological and social-democratic sensibilities. In this majority to be built, the desire for emancipation, respect for individuals, and effective solidarity have their place.’
That is why I will not allow myself to be confined to the simplification that suggests I am on the Centre-right. The MoDem 06 is at the center and reconnects with the centrist family. We will not be in the French Riviera the appendages of appendages! And we will continue to engage with our radical friends and people of leftist sensibilities, welcoming them without sectarianism.
Thanks to the Alternative, the MoDem 06 and the UDi 06 will be able to offer increased presence throughout the territories of the Coast and the hinterland. At the Democratic Movement, we want to make people believe in politics again, to connect people, not divide them. This gathering of the humanist and republican family sets an example.”
