The possible or probable marginalization of Jacques Peyrat (even if the person concerned would probably not agree with this option) from the major game of the 2014 municipal elections has unleashed the ambitions of some people, which is entirely legitimate, especially when one is young and ambitious!
This is the case for Gaël Nofri, the representative of the Marine Le Pen faction in Nice, who, despite his age (26), aims to lead the FN list for the 2014 elections. It’s also the case for Philippe Vardon, also in his thirties, who represents the identitarians of Nice and aspires to join the City Council.
Will political forecasts be confirmed by facts?
It is clear that these two new talents of the local far-right are stepping on each other’s territory and are therefore potential allies on specific issues but inevitably competitors on a more personal positioning.
On the D-day, will they be compatible between the protest movement of one and the “spirited” opposition of the other, which ultimately appeal to the same electorate? Or will it be every man for himself, and thus inevitably one against the other?
To be continued…
“Gaël Nofri must learn to play as a team!”
For over a month, I’ve been working, through several meetings with Gaël Nofri from FN-RBM, on forming a collective against the Islamization of Nice.
Faced with the two new prospects of large mosques (the Saudi one in the west and the one supported by the municipality in the east), it seemed to me—and still does!—urgent to rally for action. I have put at the disposal of this budding collective all the information and numerous contacts accumulated by the identitarians through years of frontline struggle on this issue.
I discovered that Gaël Nofri held a press conference on the Islamization of Nice and the municipal support for it, appropriating all our joint efforts.
While I commend him for shedding the hesitancy he showed on this issue during our initial meetings and finally stepping into this arena, I regret that he forgot to inform his “partners” about his initiative… It’s an inelegant, and frankly dishonest, attitude. Unfortunately, it adds to the not-so-kind declarations in the media, against Jacques Peyrat as well as the identitarians.
I am fighting and will continue to fight for unity—here and elsewhere—in the municipal elections, but these childish behaviors and little personal games will not help. Gaël Nofri must learn to play as a team! Politics is a team sport.
Philippe Vardon – President of Nissa Rebela
A collective to oppose the construction of a mosque in Nice?
Indeed, I met with Philippe Vardon three times, during meetings that were nothing arduous, to discuss the potential creation of such an apolitical structure intended to bring together under one banner political, associative, or socio-professional opponents to such a project, based on the model already existing for the Line 2 Tramway route.
To date, this matter has led to nothing because Christian Estrosi, less courageously, it must be acknowledged, has abandoned—or at least postponed—his project.
This topic is obviously not new to me. I had already taken a position as early as 2004 with my association Nice Génération Espoir, which acted concretely, as a member of the City of Nice Cabinet, with the then-Deputy Mayor responsible for religious affairs to thwart this. I believe the subject was indeed worthy of transcending partisan divides and political allegiances, and that’s what I did. That is what the contemplated collective was limited to, nothing more, nothing less.
The press conference I held on Saturday morning, which you refer to, had nothing to do with this project, far from it. It aimed to denounce the associative policy of the City of Nice, a communitarian and clientelist policy, based on serious and concrete elements provided by close contacts within the current municipality wishing to end such scandalous practices.
I pointed out the 2011 funding of an association whose declared object at the prefecture was “Teaching the pillars of Islam.” It received 31,000 euros of public money or support, an amount that should be compared to the roughly 80 registered members (387.5 euros per member). Today, this structure, which has since modified its purpose, continues to work for “teaching Arabic” in the so-called Moulins neighborhood while benefiting from several thousand euros in public money, obtained at Madame Estrosi-Sassone’s expressed request.
Considering this a violation of the republican principles of secularism and national unity, I have called for the withdrawal of the mandates of the Deputy Mayor for City Policy and the appointment of an independent investigative commission to evaluate the use of subsidies and in-kind advantages intended for the associative world.
Sadly, this case is not isolated, and I have notably warned about the City of Nice granting, at the request of the municipal counselor in charge of fighting discrimination, pool time slots reserved for a Gay, Lesbian, Trans, and Bi association. Again, in the name of anti-discrimination, we are witnessing the implementation of a discriminatory and communitarian policy by the City of Nice.
This is what I believe is essential to highlight here. As for the rest, it is mere literature and agitprop!
Gaël NOFRI, Mission Officer of the Rassemblement Bleu Marine for Nice and its Metropolis.
