Despite the flu epidemic (about fifteen cancellations, a sort of record…), Cyrille Besset’s office was well filled this evening for the traditional New Year’s address, accompanied by a seasonal galette.
The atmosphere, while as always friendly at the traditional Gauche Autrement New Year’s address, was rather serious this year.
Patrick Mottard wanted to remind everyone during his brief speech: “Beyond the collective tragedy of July 14th, our small world of the office and Gauche Autrement had to overcome some personal sorrows since in 12 months we lost, in chronological order, Jean-Luc Kleinpeter, José Boetto, Odette Lavigne, and Patrick Walz.
Politics was obviously not absent. It was an opportunity to revisit the primaries and the presidential elections in light of this dirty war that never ends with radical Islamism, whether it is its armed branch with terrorism or its political branch with communitarianism.
Then to discuss the excellent work of the “Radical and Diverse Left” group led by Dominique and Marc Concas. A group that – with the participatory collaboration of Fabien Castejon and Colette Ducher – has become the constructive yet uncompromising opposition that the people of Nice now turn to when they face difficulties because of the municipality.
In the end, the departmental and regional president of the PRG expressed three wishes: “the definitive eradication of Daesh (an important step…), the safeguarding of the integrity of the Republic despite electoral challenges, and for the Deputy Mayor of the City of Nice who lost his mind in 2016 to come to his senses in 2017.”
“In all three cases, nothing is guaranteed!” he concluded amid general hilarity.
