If he didn’t want to participate in the “fair” of controversies that he stigmatizes while sadness and dignity should have guided the behavior of political leaders, Patrick Allemand returns to the scene and “calls for calm” and “to move out of this deleterious climate” even though “the relentless effort (there is no other word) that Christian Estrosi put into proving that the State was responsible for everything in this tragedy has become unbearable.”
“There would be things to say, but now is not the time,” he said during a press briefing. And he continued: “I hope justice will reveal the truth because the people of Nice need to know the truth about this key point.”
In short, for him, “It is time to pull ourselves together and think about the future.”
The socialist official indicates the first objective: “the pressing obligation to unite against terrorism” because “this foundation is essential to build a common response, to give the people a future perspective, and to build a bulwark against the enemies of democracy, whether they are political or religious.”
His analysis is based on clear points: “nobody knows how long this may last. The people of Nice need to understand that racism is a dead end. Populist overbidding not only increases the National Front, but it also increases radicalization. Isolationism does not protect; on the contrary, it exposes us more because the enemy is inside.”
And he goes further by pointing out: “the situation in Nice that raises questions! There would be more individuals on the S list in Nice than in inner Paris. There is a political microclimate intentionally maintained by local political leaders.”
After reflection, action: “We must now bring, into public debate, concrete answers and proposals to counteract the ready-made and tempting solutions of the FN. That is why I am calling for an extraordinary City Council meeting as soon as possible. The mayor owes it to the population. I have written to the mayor in this regard.”
Moving forward, but where to?
“Now, take the right direction!” is his statement, which could be a good pre-campaign slogan if there were one.
Since that’s not the case, the major challenge in the times to come is social cohesion and living well together while alarms are raised about emerging fractures between communities, cultures, and sometimes, racial issues.
For Patrick Allemand, the path is clear: “restore in this city, because it is harder than elsewhere, the promise of republican equality, by updating everyone’s rights and duties with this new dynamic.”
It is now a matter of following this path, which is not the easiest thing considering the context and the atmosphere.
In any case, the effort deserves to be commended.
