Next Sunday, the grand electors of the department will have the heavy responsibility of electing the 5 senators who will represent them at the Palais du Luxembourg.
If the most right-leaning department in France (64% of the votes for Nicolas Sarkozy in 2012) expressed its political orientation during the municipal elections last March, the opportunity to overturn the narrow socialist majority is within reach. This includes, among other things, capturing the seat of outgoing senator Marc Daunis, the mayor of Valbonne, the only left-wing elected official in the territory.
It is this last “scalp” that the UMPists (and the allied flock of the UDI) want to display as a trophy next Sunday.
On the map, the probabilities are there: With a potential of 1,320 secured votes out of 2,031, the list led by Dominique Estrosi-Sassone (who has already worn the institutional garb and displayed the behavior of a grand lady) needs only fear the dispersion of votes in favor of the two parallel right-wing lists (according to their authors) or renegades (for the hierarchs of the Union for the Alpes-Maritimes).
In short, the only fear is missing the goal of a full slate due to Jean-Claude Lelleux’s (former mayor of Grasse and outgoing senator not re-elected) and Olivier Bettati’s, the dissident municipal councilor from Nice excommunicated for lèse-majesté, ability to rally a cross-consensus that could be lacking for the 4th but especially the 5th seat.
It’s for this reason that a consensus list was devised with representatives from the departmental capital, Dominique Estrosi-Sassone, Louis Nègre, Colette Giudicelli, Henri Leroy, and Danièle Tubiana, also representing the UDI.
The two hundred metropolitan grand electors (out of the almost 900 right-wing calculated) present last night for the final meeting of this electoral campaign were reminded by the leadership: No dispersal of votes and full steam ahead for the departmental sweep with an eye on the “reconquest” of the Senate… while waiting for the rest!
And yes, because the references and allusions to national politics were not lacking, nor were the criticisms and attacks on the President of the Republic and the socialist government for the sad state of France (according to them): Crisis, decline, disintegration, humiliation were the most popular words in the speeches of Eric Ciotti and Christian Estrosi.
But this is not really a surprise because for the UMPists, May 6, 2012, is a date that brings poor memories to mind.
So, now that they sense a whiff of revenge, what can stop them from celebrating victory even before achieving it?
Besides, the head of the list, Lady Dominique, wore an elegant bright red outfit which, on the color scale, is not considered the most calming, quite the contrary.
So in conclusion, as Rudy Salles rightly said, trying to explain the UDI’s position: “unity is strength” … and above all, we could say by integrating it, gives power!
