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Surprise… Did Patrick Allemand eat lion during the Christmas holidays? Often accused of being a “lukewarm” opponent, he has chosen to begin hostilities for this new year, 2012. The target of the municipal opposition leader, his “dearest adversary,” the Deputy Mayor Christian Estrosi.
On the eve of the first meeting of the Metropolitan Council, which will elect the first elected official from Nice to the position of President of the new legal entity (Christian Estrosi has already indicated he will not say no if someone proposes his name for this role…), a new controversy has emerged that will ignite the political scene of the Côte d’Azur’s capital.
Patrick Allemand suggests he has good reasons to believe that Christian Estrosi wants to “occupy” Villa Masséna to make it “his little Versailles.” He even involves the Minister of Culture, the guardian of the destination and use of this historical and emblematic site of the city of Nice, as a judge.
Let’s leave Patrick Allemand, who, during the press conference, seemed to know much more, with his suspicions (“I do not affirm but I raise the question at the appropriate time, before we find ourselves confronted with a fait accompli” – said the socialist politician) and focus on the facts.
Firstly: It should not be impossible to find out if a request for the declassification of Villa Masséna has been addressed by the Nice Municipality to the Ministry of Culture.
Secondly: Similarly, determining if a study (conducted by municipal services) is underway for the relocation of a public library from one place to another does not seem impossible.
Transparency, in terms of public acts and duties, is not an option but a respect for institutions and citizens. Therefore, it should be easy to establish, without any unsaid words or ulterior motives, if we are witnessing real and censurable facts or if Patrick Allemand might have overindulged in champagne during the year-end holidays.
In these cases, two theories clash:
The positivist one: when you don’t know what to say, it’s better to keep quiet
The other, more “Vaticanist”: when you speak ill of someone, it’s a sin but, often, you tell the truth!
Everyone to their own prediction!
Editor’s note: The entourage of the mayor of Nice did not wish to respond to Patrick Allemand’s accusations: “we do not deny again what we have already denied” – one of his collaborators told us.
