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Nice Premium offered candidates for the legislative elections a set of questions in order to allow its readers to better know them, appreciate them, and thus help them in their choice.
Nice Premium: If you had to introduce yourself, what would you say?
Patrick Allemand: Residents of Nice know my positions and the responsibilities I hold, but I deliberately display little of my personal life. I am 51 years old, I have a 26-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter. I was born in Nice, I studied economics here before becoming a senior official in the local public service. I am passionate about sports, especially cycling which I practiced at a good amateur level, boxing and football.
NP: What is the reason for your political commitment?
PA: I got involved in politics in 1981 alongside Michel Rocard because I believe that social justice and economic efficiency are not incompatible. Quite the opposite. Because I also deeply believe that we can engage in politics by telling the truth to people, respecting them, even when we face a clientelist system that subjugates and despises citizens.
NP: Are you already elected or have you been a candidate in legislative elections?
PA: I have been the 1st vice-president of the Regional Council since 1998, in charge for the past two years of international relations and Europe. I am also the President of the Change of Era group in the Nice City Council and a metropolitan councilor. I was a general councilor of the 12th canton until 2009. A great pride.
I have been a candidate three times in this constituency. In 2002, it wasn’t far off… In 2007, I resisted the Sarkozy wave by being the only left-wing candidate in the department to reach the second round. I hope that this time will be the right one!
NP: What are the strengths of your positioning towards the Azurian electorate?
PA: I embody change in this constituency. The people of Nice have the choice between participating in the renewal expressed on May 6 or becoming entrenched in opposition and becoming a sanctuary of the defunct Sarkozy era. I have been close to François Hollande for many years. If I am elected as a deputy, I will know how to work both on implementing his program for the recovery of France and defending the interests of the people of Nice with the ministries.
NP: Why are you a candidate in this constituency?
PA: As the leader of the municipal opposition, I could have gone to another Niçoise constituency considered easier since the last redistricting, which was tailored for Eric Ciotti. But I am not used to fleeing difficulties, and in this constituency, I have all my ties. I live there, I have been a general councilor there for 11 years, I have been working the ground there since I started in politics. I couldn’t see myself running elsewhere for electoral opportunism.
NP: How would you define your constituency?
PA: It’s one of the most beautiful in France! It’s filled with emblematic places from Place St Roch to the Promenade des Anglais, including the Port of Nice, Place Masséna, Place Garibaldi, the Castle, the Russian Church… But it is a land of contrasts. There is a great social disparity and a lot of misery. I continue to meet men and women who are on the brink of breaking, in the working-class neighborhoods like Bon Voyage and St Roch, but also in the city center. The cost of housing strangles not only modest families but also the middle classes.
NP: In your opinion, what are the immediate urgencies and first projects to be implemented?
PA: In our department, the urgency is to build housing, specifically social housing. 70% of the population of Nice is entitled to social housing. Only 11% benefit from it, far from the 20% required by the SRU law. As François Hollande committed, penalties will have to be toughened. Today in Nice, living as 4 or 5 in a two-room apartment tends to become a norm. The lack of social housing penalizes those who should live there, but also everyone else. Because this deficit affects private rental prices.
The other immediate priorities are to relaunch growth at the European level, without which we cannot break away from the debt spiral, and to restore the police officer and teacher positions that were irresponsibly cut by the UMP.
NP: Do you think the Presidential elections will influence electoral choice?
PA: Generally, legislative elections following a presidential election are favorable to the elected President. In the situation of crisis and international uncertainty we are experiencing, cohabitation would be contrary to the country’s interest. Even Lionnel Luca, who cannot be suspected of complicity with the Socialist Party, said it. That being said, we are aware that in this department, the task for the left is always more challenging than elsewhere. The victory would only be more beautiful.
NP: What is your prediction for the first round result?
PA: It is difficult to be both an actor and a forecaster. I can only give you my feeling from the field. Given the reception I receive everywhere in the constituency, even if the PS was outpaced by the FN in the first round of the presidential elections, I am convinced that I will be in the second round. I am impressed by the hope that François Hollande’s victory has sparked.
NP: Do you have an hypothesis for the second round?
PA: The results of the first round of the presidential election suggest a three-way contest among Jacques Peyrat, Eric Ciotti, and myself. A recent poll suggests rather a duel between Eric Ciotti and myself. We will see next Sunday. The important thing for me is to be in the second round. At that moment, another campaign will begin. It will be project against project. Residents of the first constituency will have the choice between someone who will work with the government to create teacher positions in our schools and restore police positions cut by the UMP, or someone, be it Eric Ciotti or Jacques Peyrat, who will lock himself in a sectarian and outrageous attitude and who would prefer to compromise on general interest projects rather than work with a socialist government.
NP: How is your campaign going and what are your next deadlines?
PA: The campaign is going extremely well. The reception on the ground is exceptional. I organize change aperitifs every evening, everywhere in the constituency. Every evening, the halls are full, and I feel a real enthusiasm among all those who voted for François Hollande on May 6. They want things to change here too. The UMP hegemony has given birth to a clan system. It needs to be ended, just as François Hollande has put an end to the Sarkozy system.
NP: What will you do on June 10?
PA: I will go vote in the morning at Lycée Albert Calmette. Then I will start the tour of all the polling stations to know the participation figures and to greet all the assessors who ensure that this moment of democracy takes place in the best possible conditions.
