Last December the case seemed to be heard: the Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn was ready to embark on the municipal campaign in Paris, head of the list in the 15th arrondissement, alongside the candidate LREM Benjamin Griveaux. "She wanted to get involved in the capital," confirms a ministerial adviser. But since ... nothing.
The first round is barely a month away, most of his colleagues in the government, eager to rub shoulders with the voters, have already returned to campaign like Marlène Schiappa in the 14th arrondissement or Édouard Philippe in Le Havre (Seine-Maritime)… But the Minister of Health has still not given any sign of life. According to our information, his contacts with Griveaux and his teams are even at a standstill today.
"The intensity of the subjects she wears means that she has not had time to devote to her reflection on her decision for the municipal elections", sweeps her entourage, thus always maintaining a certain suspense. But, in the majority, no one believes in the baptism of political fire from the minister.
"When you are 35 days before the election, not to decide is above all to decide ... not to go", quips an LREM parliamentarian. "Buzyn, she can't go there anymore, it's too late." And then, if she really wanted to go, she would have said so a long time ago, added a close friend of the Prime Minister.
Without the coronavirus, she went there
It is true that, since then, the coronavirus has passed through there. Mobilizing most of the Minister's energy. "The French expect her to deal with this crisis, not to return to the countryside," points out a ministerial adviser. But if it weren't for the coronavirus, she was going. Buzyn had in any case done everything to be a candidate in Paris. She had obtained the green light from Emmanuel Macron, but also from the Prime Minister, who had told her that a minister of her caliber must necessarily be at the top of the list. Advice that she was about to follow literally.
Alas, she did not have time to organize: no campaign team is ready to help her in her quest for the 15th arrondissement. "And then, she also saw the Benjamin Griveaux polls in Paris", balance, treacherous, an executive of LREM. The candidate indeed points good third behind Anne Hidalgo, the outgoing mayor PS and the LR Rachida Dati…
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
Still, even if she does not launch this time, the minister - who had for a time also toyed with the idea of leading the majority list to Europeans - has not given up on her desire to face an election . And the next deadline in its viewfinder may well be the regional in Ile-de-France next year.
