A muted battle that draws the balance of power and possible future alliances in the second round of municipal elections in Paris. Le Vert David Belliard spares outgoing PS mayor Anne Hidalgo, who cares for mathematician Cédric Villani but is left with the continual charges of Walker Agnès Buzyn and former Keeper of the Seals (LR) Rachida Dati.
This mapping is perhaps the main lesson from the "Great Confrontation", the first major debate organized on LCI on Wednesday between the seven main candidates in the capital. An unprecedented match, in a context of total indecision ten days before a ballot made up of a 100% female top three.
Chance of the draw, Villani opened the ball and set the tone for this evening: haro on Hidalgo! "I want a Paris where we no longer hear Parisians talking about their problems because they are suffering", he attacks, pointing to cleanliness and insecurity, but also "the lack of democracy". Even the shy - who forces her nature - Agnès Buzyn, who swore the day before not wanting to "hit" on her rivals, tackles him from the start.
"We don't live in the same city ..."
While the outgoing mayor chooses a photo showing the ways on the bank, the sun and pedestrians strolling, to illustrate the “peaceful city” which she calls for, the candidate LREM pings: “I have the impression that with Anne Hidalgo we do not live in the same city ... "Comes the turn of Rachida Dati who, true to her temper, thunders against" anarchy everywhere, in traffic, in works, in space public ”.
On Wednesday evening, the socialist mayor was ordered to play in defense. With assaults from all sides, including, at times, the eco-friendly David Belliard yet kind to him. Of marble, Hidalgo tries to float above the fray. Putting his experience as mayor, referring his competitors to their "there is only, we must", calling them to "a little humility". And indulges in a bit of bad faith, when she assures that "there are no more traffic jams" in the capital.
This becomes clear during the discussions: the socialist takes care to spare Villani and ignores Dati despite the tackles of the latter. She focused her attacks on Buzyn, constantly dismissing her as a former minister, accountant for the government's balance sheet. Like when she says: “You denounce methods. But you want me to tell you about the method for the public hospital? "
Dati gun
For his first campaign, launched just two weeks ago to replace Benjamin Griveaux in disaster, Buzyn had everything to prove yesterday. "The most beautiful mandate is that of mayor of Paris," she swears. Insiders will have recognized the sentence spoken word for word by a certain ... Anne Hidalgo when she announced her candidacy, last January.
This does not prevent him from scratching his balance sheet as often as possible. "Mrs. Hidalgo promises to do in the next six years what she did not do in the first six years," she pings. Buzyn then poses as a “mother”, complains that the exchange turns “to political politics”, sometimes has difficulty asserting himself but plays on order and cleanliness. Rachida Dati's favorite playground ...
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This one, as expected, guns all the way. Holding its line with punchlines well felt on the smell of "latrines" or the risk for cyclists to end their route "at Père-Lachaise". "We are all in agreement on the observation: delinquency has exploded in Paris", still teases candidate LR. Seasoned politician, she does not hesitate to point out the cordial understanding of the ecologist and the socialist, launching at Belliard, biting: “I don't want to hinder you in your alliance. The evening ended with no real winner, with challengers who would have found it hard to stand out from each other. On the other hand, they managed to shake up the outgoing mayor. Last night, Anne Hidalgo probably understood that she would have to fight to the end to keep her chair.
