In a few days, the Socialist Party will deliver its verdict on whether or not to organize primaries to choose the next candidate who will run under the local left’s banner in the upcoming municipal election. If the PS decides to forego this consultation, the situation risks becoming significantly complicated in the capital of the French Riviera.
It is known that the left’s political landscape in Nice has undergone some transformations recently, with former friends turned into today’s enemies and past allies transformed into present competitors. Given all this, it seems that a primary would undoubtedly be the best way to choose the perfect candidate, or at least the one who manages to generate the broadest consensus around their candidacy. However, because there is always a “but,” the Socialist Party leadership might also opt for the validation of a single candidacy; in this case, that of Patrick Allemand, who has already started communicating about his likely candidacy for 2014 through the press and social networks.
That said, his candidacy is far from unanimous among the various factions of the Nice left (PRG, EELV, PC) and even within the Azur Socialist Party, represented by General Councillor Marc Concas, who has reached out to Harlem Désir through a detailed letter narrating a rather complicated local divide. Whether this will suffice for the primary to take place is far from certain. Nevertheless, the decision to bypass this election could signal the death knell of the Azur left’s victory. Indeed, if Patrick Allemand’s candidacy is validated, it could inadvertently lead to other candidacies, such as that of the Communist Party and its leader Robert Injey, or even the Radical Left Party with former municipal candidate Patrick Mottard, who nearly succeeded in 2001 against Jacques Peyrat.
A tough dilemma, then, for Parisian officials who will have to make a choice that will undoubtedly provoke, in one way or another, collateral damage and obvious tensions within Nice’s and Azur’s left. Thus, choosing a primary seems to be the best option, but only if it is validated by the national PS.
In the meantime, it is behind the scenes that the future is being prepared, whatever it is, and numerous phone calls or work meetings are held to best prepare for the upcoming decisions that must be made in response to the Parisian decision. It’s hard to believe, however, in multiple left-wing candidacies that could further pave the way for the local far-right, which, having not yet chosen its candidate, must be rejoicing at the current imbroglio within the Nice left.
2014 has never been so close…
