The first round is over and now it’s time for settling scores? The dissatisfaction with a result largely below expectations in the first round has left marks on the relationship between the two left-wing parties in Nice. Patrick Allemand: “In the second round, I will be with a united and coherent list”.
The decision by the Nice Communist Party to prefer an alliance with the Left Front supporters of Mélenchon was not well understood and, given its poor score, weakening its local presence, not at all digested by the Azur PS.
Lost for lost, the PS must have thought it was now or never the time to put the dots on the “i”s and give the “false” allies a nice lesson. Patrick Allemand’s statement politically motivates what is, in fact, a decision that will deprive the Communist Party of council representation.
It must be stated that the Left Front’s electoral campaign was both against the outgoing mayor and just as critical of the current government policy.
In short, the left’s habit of shooting itself in the foot has, once again, not been disproven.
Statement by Patrick Allemand
I have always been an advocate of the Union of the Left. It has allowed for beautiful victories in the cantonal and regional elections of 1998, 2004, and 2010.
For these municipal elections, I proposed again to our partners from the Left Front the renewal of this agreement, for both Nice and the entire department. We agreed to support Paul Euzière in Grasse to defeat the right. Despite this, in Menton, Cannes, and Nice, I faced a refusal.
I warned the federal management of the Left Front about the political consequences of disunity in a department where the UMP is dominant and where the National Front poses a major threat. The Left Front chose another strategy, prioritizing attacks against government policy rather than against Christian Estrosi.
As a result: on the evening of the first round, the National Front slightly led over the left but led nonetheless, and the Left Front, with 5.3% of the votes, is not able to maintain itself alone. The voters have thus decided.
The time is no longer for party negotiations but for gathering all left voters and republicans to surpass the National Front on Sunday and remain the primary opposition force to Christian Estrosi.
To do this, I need a united and coherent team. That is why, after consulting with my partners from Europe Ecology The Greens, and the Left Otherwise, I have decided not to merge lists in the second round.
Robert Injey’s response was not long in coming…”
“For the Left Front in Nice, the municipal elections represent the best score since 2009 (except for the presidential election). With 6,178 voters, the Left Front is a force in Nice. A force whose campaign was appreciated, and its proposals weighed in the campaign.
Nevertheless, even progressing, the Left Front could not prevent the left, due to the collapse of the PS, from achieving, with 20.63%, its worst score in a century…
Faced with this situation, faced with the rise of the National Front, it was possible to hope for a burst of the left in the second round.
Today in Nice the question is simple: faced with a right at 55%, and an extreme right at 25%, will the left unite to try to ensure that light blue and dark blue do not completely dominate Nice?
It is in order not to resign to this situation that I made a call for left unity against the right and its extreme wing last Sunday evening.
Today, P. Allemand refuses any merger on the pretext that his “entourage does not want it”. Regardless of the “pretext”, Patrick Allemand’s decision is heavy with consequences:
- For the left in Nice discredited in the next council by a score close to ridicule;
- By the signal sent to the men and women of the left who knew how to unite to defeat the right in the Regional elections in 2010, to defeat Sarkozy in 2012. A negative signal while other deadlines are before us…
- By the disregard towards the 6,178 voters who voted for the “Nice, Humans First” list.
Strongly attached to my city, strongly attached to the fight against the right and the extreme right, I do not resign to this situation which is a policy of “scorched earth”.
I can understand P. Allemand’s disappointment for having achieved the worst PS score in Nice. But bitterness should not prevail over the demand for unity in the second round.
I solemnly invite him to take responsibility and to find the way back to the unity of the left by merging our lists.
This is not a personal matter for me.
This is why, if necessary to create the conditions for merger, I am ready to cede my eligible position to other candidates on the “Nice, Humans First” list.
