Nice Premium proposed a set of questions to candidates in the legislative elections in order to allow our readers to get to know them better, appreciate them, and thus help them in their choice.
Nice-Premium: If you had to introduce yourself, what would you say?
Christine Dorejo: That I’m a normal woman! And I don’t say that just because it’s trendy since François Hollande was elected. I am a family woman and an employee like others. I’ve made my career in the banking sector alongside a career as a high-level athlete (I was a handball player in National 1, with ASPTT of Nice).
But it’s also true that besides my passion for sports, my family life, and my job, I have always been committed to public life, whether through my union responsibilities, my involvement in community life (I am very proud to have been among the founders of the first solidarity grocery store in Alpes-Maritimes), or within the Socialist Party.
NP: What is the reason for your political engagement?
CD: It’s others. I cannot stand others’ suffering and injustice. I have always felt the need to do something against what outrages me, particularly the plight of the most disadvantaged. It’s the guiding thread of my commitment to the Socialist Party, which was a continuation of what I did within the CFDT and all the associations I’ve been actively involved in for a long time.
NP: Have you ever been elected or been a candidate in legislative elections?
CD: This is my first run concerning legislative elections, but I am a municipal councilor of Nice and a metropolitan councilor. I also ran in the cantonal elections in the 11th canton. So I’m far from being a novice in politics, even if I don’t live off my mandates.
NP: What are the strengths of your position towards the electorate of the Azure Coast?
CD: My proximity to the new president. I’ve worked with him for many years. He has always been close to the elected representatives of Alpes-Maritimes, a department with which he maintains very strong ties. I want to put this proximity to the service of the people of Nice, Trinitarians, Saint-Andréans, and Faliconnais to finally move forward on the major issues of this constituency that has been orphaned for years. The local UMP elected officials are the most intolerant in the country; their outrageous statements provoke astonishment or even derision everywhere. They would rather sacrifice the general interest than work with a socialist government. We therefore need left-wing deputies more than ever.
I also believe that my candidacy represents renewal. I am not a political professional. My UMP opponent has been a deputy for 24 years. Instead of taking care of the inhabitants of the constituency, his only concern has been to forge various alliances to stay in his seat at any cost. I believe people are tired of parliamentarians who view politics as a lifelong rent.
NP: Why are you a candidate in this constituency?
CD: Because I was born here, I live on Avenue Borriglione, I am involved in the community life of its neighborhoods, and I have been active for many years in the Nice-North-Hills section of the Socialist Party. I couldn’t have imagined being a candidate elsewhere. I know every corner of this constituency, and I am attached to it physically.
NP: How would you define your constituency?
CD: It’s a territory of contrasts, like our department. In a few minutes, you can go from Cimiez to Ariane, from the hyper-urbanization of the Liberation district to the village of Falicon. But the common point is the abandonment of this territory by the outgoing deputy. The symbol is the extension of tram line 1. There was a commitment from the Nice City Hall to extend this line to Ariane and La Trinité. This was indefinitely postponed by the mayor of Nice in the face of the deafening silence of Deputy Salles. He didn’t dare say a word against this injustice for fear of losing his nomination. This constituency needs a deputy who works for it, not for themselves.
NP: What, in your opinion, are the first urgencies and projects to be implemented?
CD: They are the measures François Hollande announced, and as a deputy, I will vote for them in parliament: creation of 60,000 positions in the National Education system because our schools are on the verge of suffocation, reinstatement of police and gendarmerie positions cut by the UMP government because for us, security is not just a slogan, an increase of 25% in the back-to-school allowance to address the social emergency, and a boost to the minimum wage without endangering the competitiveness of our businesses.
In the constituency, I will fight for the tramway extension to Ariane and La Trinité to be launched during the term, I will demand that a solution be found for the Pasteur prison, and I will ensure that the grounds of the Ray stadium are not given over to real estate speculation as feared by the Local Urban Plan. There will be a huge amount of work to make up for lost time.
NP: Do you think the Presidential election will influence the electoral choice?
CD: It’s always the case when legislative elections follow a presidential election. Voters always give a majority to the elected President. It’s logical. I hope therefore that here too, in a right-leaning land, people will want to participate in the change. It’s very important that Nice and the entire department do not lock themselves into a logic of isolation and resistance by voting for UMP candidates who demonstrate the sectarianism that has animated them since François Hollande’s election.
NP: What is your prediction for the result of the first round?
CD: Despite the multiplicity of candidacies, we should find, as in the presidential election, the PS, the UMP, and the FN in a tight race. I think it will be close, and that’s why I need maximum mobilization from the first round of all those who voted for François Hollande on May 6. We must not, because of vote dispersion, end up with a UMP-FN duel when we are in a position to win in the second round.
NP: Can you envision a scenario for the second round?
CD: The presidential results seem to suggest a PS-UMP-FN triangular. But I am preparing for all scenarios. The essential thing is to be in the second round and come in a position of strength. A duel with Rudy Salles or against the FN does not scare me. We have a historic chance to offer a left-wing deputy to Alpes-Maritimes. We won’t let it slip away.
NP: How is your campaign going, and what are your next steps?
CD: This campaign is going magnificently well. The reception of people in the street is extremely warm. I feel that François Hollande’s victory has lifted a lead blanket, even in our department. In my campaign office, we record daily offers of service from citizens who want things to change in Nice as well. It’s an extraordinary atmosphere we’ve not seen since 1981 when two socialist deputies (Max Gallo and Jean-Hugues Colonna) were elected in Nice.
The next steps include days of fieldwork alongside my deputy, Xavier Garcia, continuing the work we did during the presidential campaign and have been doing together for years in the constituency. At a time when the inhabitants of this constituency rediscover their deputy and see whimsical candidacies arriving for the reasons of financing factional parties, nobody can say of us that we are only seen during elections.
NP: What will you do on June 10?
CD: I will go vote early with my husband, Robert. Then I will tour the 101 polling stations in the constituency to greet the voters and poll workers, especially those representing my candidacy and who sacrifice two Sundays to ensure this moment of democracy unfolds in the best conditions. Then I’ll wait for the results with all the socialist, ecologist, radical, and republican activists who participated in the campaign at my office at 56 Auguste Raynaud Boulevard.
