Must politics in Nice always turn into a human comedy? On the same day, Philippe Vardon, the leader of the local identitarians who gather under the banner of Nissa Rebela, with his boisterous physique and easy words but sharp intelligence serving an obvious ambition, announced his registration with the Rassemblement Blue Marine.
A change of course? No, a new strategy in view of the municipal elections where the identitarians want to capitalize on their establishment in the popular area and move from the shadows to the spotlight, perhaps with a few elected seats. This is called becoming “notabilized”!
“First of all, if I decided to join the RBM it was with full knowledge of the facts, and therefore in agreement with its Charter. The leaders of the FN and RBM know better than anyone that I never ‘conditioned’ this membership on any deal, and I, for my part, did not tie it to the issue of municipal elections. As with all my political choices, I made this one based on what seemed to me both the fairest and the most useful. I want to conclude by emphasizing that my approach, and my sincere and real desire for gathering (carried for some time now), are dictated to me first and foremost by the state of extreme urgency in which our country and our people are plunged. For me, this far exceeds egotisms, whether personal or partisan.” declared Philippe Vardon.
The leader of Nissa Rebela, an irreducible supporter of the hardline right gathering against the outgoing mayor, a hot-headed but cunning man on the ground, could boost an electoral campaign led by a not-frequently-present parachuted candidate, at the risk of confusing the electoral campaign with a bridge tournament, Philippe Vardon offered with this non-negotiated registration the precondition for rapprochement with his (former) rival Marie-Christine Arnautu.
Of course, there was still a long way to go, alliances are not made or broken easily…
For this, Philippe Vardon even put in the nicest way by declaring: “Bridges must exist between the school of thought and action training that is the identitarian movement and the electoral hope that Marine Le Pen represents for millions of French.”
And to avoid any confusion, he was unambiguous: “The list will be led by a loyalist to Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marie-Christine Arnautu, who intends to worry the outgoing UMP deputy mayor Christian Estrosi,” and, thanks to a three-way partnership, Jacques Peyrat being the potential third angle of the triangle (Why not once the ego issues are overcome?), to play the game to become Mayor.
Simple, beautiful? Well, no, we are in Nice!
First, Marie-Christine Arnautu has no intention of welcoming Philippe Vardon on her list now or before: “I respect Mr. Vardon and I welcome any new membership to the Blue Marine Movement. But, it’s not because one takes a card that one finds themselves on my list. Nevertheless, he will not be my number one opponent in these elections.”
Then, just to cool things down in case, the former mayor of Nice, Jacques Peyrat, head of the local micro-party “Entente républicaine” and close to the National Front, indicated that he would lead his own list in the municipal elections of the city of Nice.
To conclude with the statement of Deputy Gilbert Collard, who, in the evening, communicated that Philippe Vardon’s membership (the famous card RB000967) had been accepted by mistake and should be considered null and void: “The issuance by the administrative services of the association of the RBM membership card to Mr. Vardon is therefore an error. A refund will be offered to him as soon as possible.”
How to believe it? Like in a game of snakes and ladders, we return to the starting point.
