The only parliamentary constituency in the Alpes-Maritimes not to have a candidate from the UDF Mouvement Démocrate in the upcoming legislative elections on June 10 and 17 is the third. The Modem will not present a candidate against Rudy Salles, the incumbent UDF deputy, who supported François Bayrou in the first round of the presidential election but called for a vote for Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round, thereby joining the presidential majority. “It is not our choice. We will not be part of the presidential majority. Rudy Salles, when he files his candidacy at the prefecture, registers as ‘presidential majority.’ There is no war. We respect Rudy Salles’ approach just as he certainly respects ours,” explains Karine Lambert, the Modem coordinator in the Alpes-Maritimes and candidate in the fifth district. QED. The Modem aims to be a free and calm party, benefiting from the dynamism of its youth, distinctly differing from the old UDF.
The Modem officially came into being on May 10 after the UDF National Council, a month before the elections. Even though it has a charismatic leader and relies heavily on the UDF’s base, this is a daring gamble undertaken by François Bayrou and his representatives in most of the country’s constituencies. The goal is to capitalize on the momentum from the first round, which saw 7 million voters trust the Béarn deputy. “We hope to maintain his score and even improve it,” states Céline Lacroix, a candidate in the second district. The excitement surrounding the former Minister of National Education has not died down. Initially, he drew all cameras and microphones to himself the first week of the interlude. He then fascinated them again with his “non-endorsement” for either of the second-round candidates. He continued to hold attention by establishing his Democratic Movement. Within days, 55,000 French clicked to join the Democratic Movement online via François Bayrou’s website, and a thousand in the Alpes-Maritimes.
The press conference, besides introducing the candidates, was an opportunity to understand the UDF split. “We were all behind François Bayrou on April 22, and we still are,” sums up Céline Lacroix, a candidate in the second district. The positioning of the Modem arises as a question. It seeks to unify voices from the center-left and center-right to which votes from environmentalist supporters like Corinne Lepage, Jean-Luc Benhammias, and Antoine Waechter, who back François Bayrou, can be added. “I am aware of the difficulty. I am neither a dreamer nor an idealist. In my eighth district, with its situation (editor’s note: two UMP candidates), I believe I absolutely have a place in this democratic debate,” justifies Patrick Laffargue. The logic is the same for the other seven candidates. They adopt the same discourse as François Bayrou with the same desire to remain free to approve or disapprove of the decisions of the next government in order to provide constructive criticism. To do this, it is necessary to have deputies. 22 UDF deputies have joined the Presidential Majority. “Winnable” constituencies are not numerous. There are those of François Bayrou, Anne-Marie Comparini, Jean Lassalle, Gérard Vignoble, and Gilles Artigues. To have a group at the Assembly, it is necessary to reach 20 seats to ensure a political existence. One must obtain 12.5% of the registered voters to stay in the second round. Across France and in the Alpes-Maritimes, the Modem is racing against time to make itself known, explain the project, and finally in the last step, persuade people to vote for its candidates. The first members from the Alpes-Maritimes followed journalists at Céline Lacroix’s office to also get acquainted with their new party.
1st constituency: Hervé Caël
2nd constituency: Céline Lacroix
4th constituency: Philippe Briand
5th constituency: Karine Lambert
6th constituency: Loïc Dombreval
7th constituency: Edwige Madec-Vercnocke
8th constituency: Patrick Laffargue
9th constituency: Danièle Tubiana
