Patrick Allemand has released an “open” letter that he just sent to Patrick Mottard to invite him to the “sacred union” of the progressive left against the outgoing mayor Christian Estrosi for the 2014 municipal elections.
From one Patrick to another… Patrick Mottard’s response to Patrick Allemand did not take long to arrive! To think that the scenario was already written, there is only one “Patrick” we will not disavow!
By calling himself the leader of the opposition, Patrick Allemand wanted to legitimize the fact that he will be the head of the list for the socialist left and its allies.
Wouldn’t it have been more democratic if this decision had been proposed to voters and supporters through a primary in order to make it the result of a consultation rather than a self-enthronement? The result would probably have been the same, but the approach could have been entirely different.
In many other cities this has been, or will be done, why not in Nice?
To conclude, a small remark on the expression “determined opposition”: When you oppose, there is no need for a qualitative adjective, the noun is largely sufficient.
Dear Patrick,
The municipal elections of March 2014 are approaching.
After two terms under a former FN mayor, our city has been managed since March 2008 by a man more concerned with his national destiny than the daily lives of the people of Nice, a populist, poor manager, and a pale visionary.
Nice is in full drift. The city has become a machine to satisfy an oversized ego. The gigantic projects are piling up without any coherence, at the same rate as the very worrying debt.
Every day I encounter more and more citizens who express their wish to change the mayor in March 2014.
But who to replace him with? It is to this question that I have the responsibility to respond. No one can know exactly where the FN stands today in a city where, in the past, it has sometimes reached very high levels. In any case, the danger exists as the political situation is difficult and we must do everything to prevent it! Wherever the FN has managed cities, particularly in our region, Marignane, Vitrolles, Toulon, it has only resulted in fields of desolation.
We now have the shared responsibility to offer the people of Nice another solution, a perspective, a hope, and to build a dynamic of victory.
In 2008, we fought against each other. It was a period that was difficult for both you and me, and it ended in a collective failure. Experience showed that individual adventures were doomed to failure. Today, you and I have the duty, in the name of not only the higher interest of the left but also of the city of Nice, to discuss finding the conditions for the unity that will bend the UMP system.
Dear Patrick, our relations are now politically peaceful. The Socialists contributed to your reelection in the last cantonal elections and are pleased because strong words are needed in this city to defend the interests of its inhabitants against the omnipotence of one man. Our regained unity notably allowed us to make the mayor backtrack on the PNRQAD project in the city center.
Since 2008, I have led a determined opposition against the mayor of Nice, whenever necessary, and it has often been the case.
Today, many republican left and right-wing people of Nice ask me to defeat Christian Estrosi next March. This is proof that they are not mistaken about the elections. March 2014, in Nice, will be a local election, crucial for the future of our city. It is Christian Estrosi’s record that will need to be judged, no one else’s.
I therefore call upon you, and Dominique Boy-Mottard, as leaders of “Gauche Autrement” to join, with your friends, the list I will lead. We can discuss the modalities of this gathering in the coming days, and it’s up to you to defend it with your current party.
I place a lot of hopes in this approach I am undertaking today because I am certain that thousands of people in Nice are waiting for it.
Best regards,
Patrick Allemand
Dear Patrick,
I acknowledge receipt of your letter, which is in fact an open letter. Therefore – because form demands parallelism – I also respond by the same means.
As you know, with “Gauche Autrement” along with several personalities, I was in favor of an open primary on the left, which would have had the merit of moving the lines and creating an interesting dynamic for the election itself. The Socialist Party did not want it. This is now a regrettable but established fact.
Nonetheless, with Dominique Boy-Mottard and my friends from “Gauche Autrement,” we remain interested in this crucial deadline for the future of our city.
In the probably difficult context for the left in which the municipal elections will take place, there is a great risk of facing, without a minimum rallying of progressive forces, a face-off between the right and the far right in France’s fifth-largest city.
Thus, your request to concretely consider the modalities of this gathering does not seem incongruous to us.
Since 2008, we have had an original and independent political approach that we are ready to put at the service of a collective that respects the identity of each individual, but which we do not want to sacrifice on the altar of an electoral stack of convenience.
In this very precise context, we therefore agree to a meeting, which could indeed take place as soon as possible.
Best regards,
Patrick MOTTARD
