Nice-Premium: Three days after the results of the first round, and with 72 hours of reflection, how do you analyze your score?
Patrick Mottard: These 7,887 votes are truly votes of support, obtained under difficult conditions (exclusion from televised debates, bombarding on the theme of a so-called ‘useful vote’, limited material resources…). Since we had no party backing us, these are personal votes linked to the good candidates we had on the Nice Autrement list. And it’s a significant number.
NP: Three candidates in the second round: Christian Estrosi, Jacques Peyrat, Patrick Allemand. A question is on the lips of all the people of Nice: to whom will the votes gathered by Patrick Mottard in the first round go? So, a simple question: what ballot will Patrick Mottard put in the ballot box on Sunday? And a less simple question: how will your 7,800 votes be distributed?
PM: For the second round, as I committed to back in September, I publicly proposed a transparent list merger to Patrick Allemand. Everything else is just bad literature.
I extended this hand despite the attacks I have been suffering in the press since 2004 (at the time Michel Audiard would have said “a punch in full peace!”) and the exclusion that we and my socialist running mates have suffered. I wanted to allow the left to retain some hope in a second round that otherwise looks bleak. Patrick Allemand refused: it’s up to him to take responsibility for that.
NP: At a press conference, Jacques Peyrat extended his hand to you. Do you extend your hand to Jacques Peyrat?
PM: It wasn’t me who declared in June 2007 that “Jacques Peyrat had succeeded in his second term”… It was Patrick Allemand.
NP: Supplementary question: What would you have said 10 or 20 years ago if someone had told you that one day Jacques Peyrat would propose an alliance to you?
PM: ?????!!!!!
NP: Same questions regarding your relationship with Patrick Allemand. You had lunch with him. He echoed it on his blog. He also supported Pierre Laigle. But a reconciliation still seems unthinkable. You describe him as unscrupulous. Could you have imagined such a disagreement a few months and years ago?
PM: I agreed to meet Patrick Allemand at his request. It was about getting my support outside of the transparent merger procedure I was talking about above.
I couldn’t have imagined just a few months ago that the federal secretary of my party would deliberately sacrifice the left’s chances and the interests of the people of Nice for his career plan.
NP: Pierre Laigle, Nice Autrement candidate at the cantonal elections, has made it to the second round. He will not be able to present himself, victim of the traffic jams. Setting aside this misfortune, can we consider this result as the first victory of the Nice Autrement list?
PM: Pierre Laigle indeed achieved a very good result in the 6th canton, even though his base is stronger in the 12th canton.
NP: Finally, after the elections, what will become of Nice Autrement? Do you plan to continue the adventure?
PM: Nice Autrement – as stated in article 2 of the charter – has committed to continue its actions with or without municipal councillors. We have already met and decided to follow this commitment to the letter. It is true that having two Niçois general councilors in our ranks is not a handicap…
