The town hall of Paris organizes at the beginning of April a vote on self-service scooters in Paris. A ballot that turns into a battle against Anne Hidalgo. Jean-Rémi Baudot’s political brief.
Parisians will have to answer a simple question: “For or against self-service scooters in Paris?. A vote announced in mid-January by the mayor of the capital, Anne Hidalgo, who officially positioned herself against these electric devices, sometimes considered dangerous.
>> Self-service electric scooters: the Minister of Transport presents his plan to “regulate” their use
She joins in particular her ecologist assistant for Transport, David Belliard. A position, far from being unanimous, including among the Greens. But what should have remained a question of Parisian mobility is turning into a political struggle. All this under the eye of operators who want to save their business. In a context of strong political tensions in the capital, this subject offers an ideal angle of attack to all those who would like to destabilize the Mayor of Paris. In a way, his opponents want this vote to become a referendum “For or against Anne Hidalgo“.
Among the Greens, the ban on scooters is not unanimous
This is the strategy of the Parisian Macrocystes, “It’s a great opportunity to position ourselves against it.”, confirms one of them. In the next few days, the Young with Macron will go tow in front of the universities. Objective: to mobilize young people who represent a third of the users of these scooters. Same calculation at the UDI, it’s yes among the centrists.
On the right, we are rather embarrassed. In principle, the right-wing, rather conservative Parisian voter is not a big fan of scooters that weave between cars. With the exception of a few borough mayors, the right calls for more regulation than a ban. It is hard to imagine, in any case, Rachida Dati supporting Hidalgo’s position.
Doesn’t this subject deserve better than a partisan struggle? Of course, but as often, when a subject becomes political, we move away from the root of the problem. However, there would be things to say. Part of the arguments of the town hall are swept away by a study commissioned by the town hall itself, but which it never wanted to make public. We learn in particular that 19% of users of self-service scooters would turn to a thermal motor trip in the event of the disappearance of the service.
There are four weeks left for the Parisians to form an opinion. Finally, for those planning to move. This vote will be done without online voting. The ballot boxes will only be in district town halls. “If they have 10% participation, it will already be a lot“, mocks a Parisian elected official who is already wondering about the legitimacy of this consultation.