You have certainly noted, Nice Première has decided to open a major file on the upcoming municipal elections, and it is Patrick Mottard, the leader of Nice Plurielle, who was the first to respond to our invitation.
In a few questions, discover one of the potential candidates for the next municipal elections.
Nice Première: Jacques Peyrat is running again for office, how do you feel about that?
Patrick Mottard: I am not surprised because he never really hid it.
NP: Will you be one of his opponents in the upcoming municipal elections?
Yes.
NP: What are the main outlines of your project for the city of Nice?
PM: TRANSPARENCY: multi-year budgeting, systematic inclusion of the opposition in all bodies, disclosure of the assets of all elected officials at the beginning and end of their terms, and integration of CANCA into the democratic space.
PARTICIPATIVE DEMOCRACY: elected neighborhood councils, creation of a representative council for foreigners in the city, participatory budgets, economic and social council…
COMMUNITY SERVICES: facilities for neighborhoods, early childhood, primary education, associations, sports, culture, the elderly… funded by abandoning large projects.
HOUSING PRIORITY FILE: implementation of a real Marshall Plan to mobilize the City and all concerned economic and social partners (see proposals from Nice Plurielle next January).
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ECONOMIC SECTORS, notably in the field of cinema and audiovisual…
NP: Who do you think will be the other candidates in this election?
PM: Likely, one or two right-wing dissidents like Jean Icard, the National Front (regardless of the head of the list), and the traditional “left-wing” dissident list… remote-controlled by the right to defeat the left!
NP: Don’t you think that a merging of forces on the left would be a good solution for the next Nice election?
PM: As the partial election of the 7th canton recently showed a few months ago, uniting forces is necessary. We prove it within the municipal opposition team of “Nice Plurielle” when militants, sympathizers, and elected officials from the Socialist, Communist, Green, and Alternative parties prepare, with associations, every City Council since 2001.
This allows us to be not only a force of opposition but also of proposition. The people of Nice understand this as they see us as the only credible alternative to the current municipal team.
NP: Can you introduce us to the main members of your team?
PM: For now, my team is the group of which I am the chairman at the City Council. This group will of course be among those with whom I plan to go into battle in 2008.
As for the other team members who are preparing for the future, you will understand that I prefer not to expose them to the media at this moment, given the responsibilities that most of them assume in different administrations and civil society.
I must also say that, as much the good work done together within “Nice Plurielle” as the quality of the people who have wished to be associated with my action for several months now and who are ready to participate in the future team, are elements that have comforted me in my decision to continue my fight within our city.
NP: If you were to predict, what would the trio for a possible second round be and who would be the winner?
PM: Myself, the UMP candidate (Peyrat or another), the FN candidate. Regardless of the other candidates, I believe I am in a position today to win in any scenario.
Having, as is my case, a very close contact with the residents of the city, there are things that one feels and that are unmistakable. Look, after the first round of the partial election of the 7th canton, nobody thought Dominique Boy-Mottard would win (including among the local PS leaders). But she and her team had no doubt because they very clearly felt what was happening on the ground and notably that the rejection vote for the right-wing candidate was turning into a vote of support for Dominique’s candidacy.
As for myself, it’s something I feel daily since 2001 and which was confirmed in the ballot box during the 2004 cantonals. All the incumbent Socialist general councilors of Nice were re-elected in 2004, but if one wants to be serious, one must look at the figures of the results (more reliable, you will agree, than any supposed poll…). Because otherwise, anyone, with a somewhat too large ego, might claim to be the best possible candidate.
And these numbers are very clear: they cannot say just anything. The fact that I regularly get the best results on the left is a first element, but it is not significant in itself: one might think I am running in sectors more favorable to our ideas than others… Except that’s not the case. Just compare these results with those, obtained in the same electoral districts, in regional or national elections (presidential).
I am the ONLY left-wing candidate to systematically achieve better results than my party. To get back to 2004, that was a good comparison since, at the same time as the cantonal elections, the regional elections were taking place. If one looks at the results achieved by the list led by Michel Vauzelle in the different cantons up for renewal in the Alpes-Maritimes department, they are all superior to those achieved by the cantonal candidates… except in two cantons: the one where I was running (the 5th) and the one where Dominique was running (the 7th)… even though she was not the incumbent. I have all these results and their analysis (which has been done by academics) at your disposal.
NP: What is your wish for the evening of the 2008 municipals?
PM: Humility from the winners, no witch hunts, and an extended hand to all women and men of goodwill to make Nice an open, generous, and modern city.
