at the heart of the “battle of the rights” in Nice

There is the postcard of Nice: the beach, the Promenade des Anglais. And then there is the daily newspaper, with these many retirees who are preparing to vote in the first round of the legislative elections, on Sunday April 12, in the 1st constituency of the Alpes-Martimes. When questioned, they say it very freely: “I vote for Eric Ciotti!“, loose a lady, “He did a lot of stuff for us seniors“, adds another, when a passerby finds him “that he defends the people of Nice well“.

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All salute his consistency: he has never changed parties, whatever the difficulties of the Republicans. What the person concerned himself underlines during his public meetings: “My political family suffered a very heavy defeat in the presidential election. Its causes? They are not in the weakness of our values. They are, on the contrary, perhaps in the lack of affirmation of these right-wing values: authority, identity, freedom. I’m on the right, I claim it and I’ll never apologize“, launches Eric Ciotti to applause. And his latest proposal to ban the burkini has success in the room.

But in this campaign, another candidate claims to be right-wing: the young Craig Monetti. This is the foal of Christian Estrosi, mayor of Nice, who made him his deputy mayor of Nice, and placed him with Macronie. “I wouldn’t say maybe not placed, but certainly encouraged“, he pleads, at 29, half as old as his opponent. Craig Monetti plays on contrast in style and substance, as ina campaign aperitif in front of young people where he does not hesitate to quote the rap group NTM and its Tomorrow’s world.

And he accuses:I embody a candidacy for the social right, the right of progress. I also try to have a method that comes out of common sense and going beyond. Mr. Ciotti embodies, and it is his right, moreover, an extreme right. When Eric Zemmour says he won’t invest anyone against Eric Ciotti, I think that’s a pretty clear message. When the National Rally invests a totally unknown candidate who does not even campaign, I believe that it is a support which is just as clear towards Mr Ciotti “, insists the candidate of the presidential majority. Impossible to verify this thesis: the candidate of the RN, Muriel Vitetti does not respond to interview requests.

For his part, Eric Ciotti disputes: he has not concluded any agreement. And he sends Craig Monetti back to his work in a ministerial cabinet: “I don’t consider the person you mention to be on the right. She collaborated with a socialist minister, she carried a very left-wing policy in terms of university and research…“And the message is clear: Eric Ciotti dreams of eliminating Graig Monetti from the first round, it would be a slap in the face for his best enemy the mayor of Nice.

The outgoing MP also claims to be more wary of the Nupes candidate, the Insoumise and school teacher Anne-Laure Chaintron, who is campaigning far from this “battle of the rights”.

“In fact, it’s very easy, I’m going to let them fight, and I’m going to stay on our program. I don’t think we will affect Eric Ciotti’s voters. On the other hand, there are still people who, in 2017 for example, had voted for Emmanuel Macron and who were still seriously disappointed. These people can come to us“, she believes.

Moreover, on the scale of this constituency, Jean-Luc Mélenchon finished second in the presidential election. An argument for the candidate who distributes her leaflets: “It should be noted that this constituency is very spread out. We have working-class neighborhoods that mobilized a lot for the first round of the presidential elections. We made the national scores with more than 21% for Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Yes, it’s possible… Here, it’s word of mouth, we ficanasse, that’s how we work“, she hopes.

The voices of the left, other candidates seek them, in particular Kenza Athanasopoulos for Place Publique, the movement of Raphaël Glucksmann. She tries to make her voice heard, with her small means.

“We stuck posters last night on the free places and this morning, first thing in the morning, it was already glued by the posters of Graig Monetti, supported by the mayor …”

Kenza Athanasopoulos

at franceinfo

She is not the only one to point out the phenomenon. In an attempt to exist, the candidate of the Animalist Party, Loïc Lalande, puts on his poster very different from the others. No face, but that of an animal, a duck on a black background which is displayed throughout France during this campaign. “The duckling is the victim of a host of abominations from birth to death. It has a very short lifespan. He represents the animal cause well.“, he underlines, grateful to have at least the advantage of arousing curiosity.