“I am pragmatic and calm, and without any spirit of revenge.” Patrick Mottard shows his serenity. With the elections behind him and his exclusion from the Socialist Party confirmed, he sees the creation of the “Gauche Autrement” association as symbolic with the distribution of the first membership cards. Between 6 PM and 8 PM on Wednesday, about a hundred members came to officially express their desire to continue the action started with the municipal campaign.
Patrick Mottard describes and presents these members: “The 69 fellow candidates have been supportive. There was no break after the municipal elections. They wanted to continue the journey. We also had activists and 8,000 voters. Some were disappointed by the strategic vote for the Socialist list. Others come from the Modem.” Gauche Autrement will compare municipal decisions and projects with their program presented as part of Nice Autrement: “We are intended to intervene on all subjects. There are things done that are good and were in our proposals or our charter.” Gauche Autrement will intervene and give its positions on important themes. The association recently co-organized the protest against the decision of the Lille Court to annul a marriage at the husband’s request due to the wife’s lack of virginity. In September, a debate on anti-racism will be organized.
The creation of the association is certainly a tool for gathering “Mottardian” activists but above all a means to communicate and exist. The Nice Autrement fellow candidates were all excluded from the Socialist Party. The conflict between Patrick Allemand, the federal secretary of the PS, and Patrick Mottard is still ongoing. For Patrick Mottard, Patrick Allemand is “a blocking element”. Unless there is a change at the head of the local PS, Patrick Mottard will remain on the sidelines. He does not wish to comment on the national elections in the PS for the moment.
Patrick Mottard, beyond his (small) group in the Alpes-Maritimes General Council and his blog, needs a framework to pursue electoral objectives with the upcoming elections in sight. And this framework will be his association.
