Under a radiant sun and at the foot of the slopes of the Auron resort, thousands of UMP supporters gathered on Saturday to celebrate the political return of their party.
From table to table, people talked, inquired about family and children, and discussed their activism while awaiting the arrival of the “father,” Christian Estrosi. It wasn’t until 1 p.m. that the Deputy Mayor of Nice and Deputy Secretary of the Union for a Popular Movement made his entrance into the Bergerie field. Movie music and wild applause greeted the hometown hero, who took over 10 minutes to reach the site of his speech.
“A year ago I was here and I had not yet made my choice for the municipal elections. It’s thanks to you that I decided.” Between thanks and announcing the guiding line for the coming year: “to make our territory a benchmark in France, so that Nice is talked about everywhere,” Christian Estrosi presented the party’s list [Jean-Pierre Leleux, Mayor of Grasse, Vice-President of the General Council; Colette Giudicelli-Guibal, 1st deputy mayor of Menton, Vice President of the General Council; Louis Nègre, Mayor of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Vice-President of the General Council and Canca; Marguerite Blazy, Municipal Councilor of Antibes, Vice-President of Casa; Charles-Ange Ginesy, Mayor of Péone, Vice-President of the General Council, Deputy-Alternate of Christian Estrosi; Michèle Olivier, mayor of Andon (alternate); Honoré Colomas, Mayor of Saint-André-de-la-Roche, Vice-President of the General Council, President of the association of mayors 06] for the next senatorial elections in the Alpes-Maritimes, which, for the first time, will take place with proportional representation, with 5 seats to be filled. “We wanted a young list for the upper house, with experience and commitment behind the President of the Republic.”
A list where no incumbent senator is found; two of them chose not to run again, while for the third, “we frankly don’t have any news, but perhaps he drew conclusions from his municipal election defeat, and a fourth for whom I have great respect but to whom I had offered to be a kind of sage, who now plays another role within our department.” As for Michèle Tabarot, deputy-mayor of Cannet-Rocheville, she refused to be the lead candidate, “for the good of my constituency.”
But this lunch was mainly an opportunity for Christian Estrosi to recall all his commitments for the department: public transport on dedicated sites, university development, 21st-century hospital, tramway line 2, Eco-Valley, Winter Olympics. “These are great challenges that I want to reaffirm and will achieve as I have promised.”
Finally, at the request of the President of the Republic, whom he will accompany on Wednesday and Thursday to Syria, the Mayor of Nice wants to take a close interest in the construction of the Union for the Mediterranean.
