The candidate from the PS/PRG/MRC list, who enabled Christian Estrosi’s victory by withdrawing in the second round, returns to the scene to express his congratulations to the winner… but not only that!
It is also an opportunity for him to reflect on his choice, which will result in the left being sidelined in the Regional Council for the next six years.
The call to the “republican pact” seems like a weak consolation.
As for the very courageous statement about the “reconquest by the left of territories lost in 2014 and 2015,” the road is long and very steep.
While the socialists have indeed found a new regional leader, the party comes out shattered from this electoral campaign.
And if we add to this the confused and unfounded desires of the radical left’s allies, we are faced with a Himalaya…
Statement from Christophe Castaner, head of the PS/PRG/MRC list
I am pleased with the exceptional civic mobilization to block the dark ideas of the National Front.
I fully assume the choice to withdraw on the evening of the first round: Christian Estrosi knows he owes his victory to the sense of responsibility of the Socialist Party and the left, who knew how to be republican and take responsibility.
This choice commits Christian Estrosi. Commitment to the left voters, because the left of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, although it chose not to sit in the Regional Council, remains a force of resistance and proposal against the National Front, but also against the new regional executive.
Christian Estrosi must learn from his first-round score and the conditions of his victory tonight. The first round and the failure of the left, as well as the right’s candidate, highlight the deep gap between the political systems we represent and the expectations of the French people.
Faced with the “against” vote expressed by our fellow citizens last Sunday, and today by the mobilization in reaction to the National Front risk, I want to propose another policy of adhesion, a policy “for”.
We will not sit in the regional chamber. This is the price of Christian Estrosi’s victory and our determination to prioritize our values over our careers.
From tomorrow, we will be the vigilant watchdogs of the new Regional President’s commitments to defend Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.
He will find us on his path whenever necessary when he strays from the republican pact that binds him to the region today.
At the beginning of the year, I will propose the creation of a regional observatory composed of outgoing elected officials, candidates present on various departmental lists, representatives of the entire left, and the active forces of our region.
Thus, we will maintain a force of proposal and opposition to prepare for political alternation and the reconquest by the left of territories lost in 2014 and 2015.
