The atmosphere isn’t that of a festive evening at the UMP headquarters in Nice, where a hundred elected officials and activists gathered to follow the results live and listen to commentary from the party headquarters.
According to the activists, François Hollande’s lead is not that significant, and in any case, Nicolas Sarkozy will be able to overturn the situation during the televised debates (no less than three) that the outgoing president has requested from his rival.
And anyway, even if the national result might lend itself to some regrets, there remains the satisfaction of the excellent score obtained in the Alpes-Maritimes and especially in Nice (see our article that reports the local results).
It’s true that the numbers in 2012 are lower compared to those of 2007, but the advantage is such that it can be tolerated without too much fear.
And even an appeal to the FN electorate, scoring higher than the already brilliant national result, is not forbidden, especially at the local level where some alliances might more easily be formed…
The first to advocate in this direction is Benoît Kandel, the first deputy of the Nice municipality: “As of tomorrow, a new electoral campaign will begin. The Left obtained almost 43% of the votes, so it is far from being the majority. I think that FN voters feel better represented by Nicolas Sarkozy than by François Hollande.”
The Mayor of Nice spoke after Nicolas Sarkozy’s television appearance to emphasize the merit of the outgoing President’s statements: “Nicolas Sarkozy will propel us to victory in the second round. The French will be grateful for his management of the crisis that affected Europe better than what was done in other countries. Of course, there are difficulties, but despite this, our candidate is the only one capable of overcoming them.
And with a clear nod to “frontist” voters: “Nicolas Sarkozy will control immigration and prevent foreign nationals from voting in elections (editor’s note: at the territorial level).”
To conclude: “The Left is not the majority, and furthermore, the Socialist Party and its candidate will be at the mercy of the ecologists and communists.
Finally, François Bayrou voters have their place at our side; nothing separates us from them.”
This sentiment was reiterated by Rudy Salles, who represents the Nouveau Centre in the local political majority: “The alliance between NC and UMP here in Alpes-Maritimes shows the way to centrist voters, to whom I say to join us in supporting Nicolas Sarkozy. And to François Bayrou, who said he wants to make requests to both candidates before expressing his preference for one or the other, I say: I already know the answers, and I tell him that only Nicolas Sarkozy is capable of giving him satisfaction.”
Finally, the President of the General Council of Alpes-Maritimes, Eric Ciotti, did not hide his satisfaction with the result obtained by the departmental majority: “The estimates confirm us as the first party in the department. It is with satisfaction that I note that the policy conducted is massively appreciated by the electorate. We have won, just as Nicolas Sarkozy will win on May 6 despite the opposition of the media and pollsters who spread false information to weaken him. We know full well that the Left will cause France’s decline, and it is our duty to prevent it. Yes, Nicolas Sarkozy will be president.”
