Nice Premium: How do you approach the final hours of the campaign for this second round?
Lauriano Azinheirinha: Much like the initial hours of my campaign: continuing to be present in the field, listening, dialoguing with residents to better understand the challenges they face daily and providing concrete solutions. I feel an immense need for proximity and effectiveness from the residents of the 6th canton.
Xavier Garcia: With a bit of fatigue after two and a half months of campaigning, but with a lot of determination and serenity. I am not the favorite in this second round, but I am doing everything in my power to overturn the predictions. With my deputy Anne-Julie Clary, who does extraordinary work alongside me, we are attempting to reach out to each absentee voter door-to-door to convince them that the dominance of one clan over this city is not inevitable and that their vote can change everything.
NP: What were the reactions on the ground after the first round?
Lauriano Azinheirinha: Very warm and full of hope for the future. More than 40% of them trusted me from the first round, and I want to thank them. This confidence honors me, and I will do everything to be worthy of it. My greatest pride is having led in the 19 polling stations: from Pasteur to Libération through Cimiez, no neighborhood in the canton deserves to be neglected compared to another. It is a strong commitment of my campaign.
Xavier Garcia: Very touching. Since Monday morning, I have received a lot of encouragement, small notes of support, horn honks… There are also the children from the Lippmann Garden who shout “Go Xavier!” every time I pass by. And conversely, there are those who forgot to vote or are unaware because they are returning from vacation or were too busy with the start of the school year. Also, there are the disappointed by municipal politics who want to send a message through abstention. I try to explain to them that there is an alternative in this city and in this canton, and that nothing will change if they do not vote.
NP: Few voting instructions were given by the outgoing candidates from the first round, what do you think about this?
Lauriano Azinheirinha: To those who would have made another choice, or who abstained, I want to reaffirm my desire for unity, beyond any political divide and in the sole interest of the people of Nice. My opponent exhausts himself in systematic criticism, and now, to make up for his 25% lag, he is struggling to unite a totally fragmented left that has lost all credibility. The Greens have not been mistaken, they call to vote for the best! Nice is built together: the time is for unity, and Sunday, September 13, will be the time for action and effectiveness.
Xavier Garcia: That anger is always bad advice.
NP: What will be your first actions if you’re elected on Sunday?
Lauriano Azinheirinha: Never betray my voters. I have committed to being by their side starting next week to not only continue this dialogue but also to continue addressing the grievances they have shared with me. True to my commitments, I will hold my first meeting in a neighborhood of the canton starting Wednesday, 16th. And it will be like this every Wednesday thereafter. I hold it very important that people can meet with me, on the spot, without an appointment. You know, politics is not complicated, you have to work! This is what our fellow citizens expect.
Xavier Garcia: The same thing if I am defeated. I will visit the residents of the 6th canton to tell them again that I will be there for the next five years to defend important issues for this canton: fighting noise, opening local police posts, creating sports fields, resident parking rates, creating daycare centers, and helping the elderly.
NP: What will you do on Sunday?
Lauriano Azinheirinha: I will tour the polling stations to greet these volunteers (regardless of their political affiliation) who have devoted two consecutive Sundays to a civic act. I have great respect for them, and I want to show them my gratitude.
Xavier Garcia: I will spend the early part of the morning with my wife, Ana, and my daughter, Margot. I have not seen them much these last weeks, and that is the most challenging part of this campaign. Then around 10:30 am, I will start the tour of the polling stations with Anne-Julie and Patrick Allemand to know the participation rates and greet the assessors, particularly our activists who agreed to run a polling station all day.
NP: Finally, what would you say to your opponent a few hours before the polls open?
Lauriano Azinheirinha: That he ran a good campaign. We do not share the same beliefs, but we respected each other. I do not like low-level politics. But if his project boils down to systematically criticizing the municipal team’s actions or resuming projects that are already underway (resident parking, noise-reducing surfacing, early childhood plan, senior card,…), he should not be surprised that the residents of the 6th canton preferred the choice of action and effectiveness. As a member of the municipal majority of Christian ESTROSI and tomorrow of the departmental majority led by Eric CIOTTI, the people of Nice understand that I am the best to advance the projects of this canton.
Xavier Garcia: Exactly, that he is an opponent, not an enemy. I do not share the vision he defends for the 6th canton, but I respect Lauriano Azinheirinha. This campaign was clean, each of us defended our ideas without disparaging the other, and that’s good. I only regret that slightly artificial first stone placements, like that of the Paillon bridge, were hastily organized before the first round, but I have the weakness to think that people are not fooled.
