Eliminated in the first round of the municipal elections, the VIVA! list (a group of left-wing diversity including the PCF and other citizen associative movements with this political sensibility), due to the Government’s decision to hold the second round on June 28, will not have the chance to be present in the municipal council of the azure capital.
While another “loser”, Patrick Allemand, acknowledged—with regret—the legitimacy of the government’s decision, the VIVA! list joins forces with the right-wing list of Jean-Marc Chipot to deliver sharp critiques.
As in any competition, there are the good sports and… the others.
By deciding on June 28 for the second round of the municipal elections, the government deliberately takes the risk of high abstention and gives an advantage to the outgoing mayors.
In Nice, the abstention rate in the first round (71.46%) on March 15 was even higher than elsewhere in France, in a context marked by the fear of the coronavirus.
In a phase of partial and problematic deconfinement, the risk is high that the same phenomenon will occur again for the second round on June 28.
For ViVA!, democracy, if taken seriously, would require waiting until the return of usual conditions, allowing for a real electoral campaign involving citizens.
The government decided otherwise: after the travesty of the first round, we will be subjected to the travesty of the second round, which will further alienate the population from those who claim to represent them!
The ViVA! citizens’ gathering remains committed to the pledges made during the first round campaign: it continued its action during the confinement and will carry it on beyond the second round of the municipal elections!
