Le Figaro Nice
Making something new out of something old.
To better
“get back to basics”
, deciphers support from Christian Estrosi.
In light of a turbulent mid-term, Mayor Horizons of Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) has just made some readjustments.
Still others will follow, we are told.
Within the office of the first magistrate of Nice, this looks like a way of preparing for the next municipal election of 2026 in the face of a threat named Éric Ciotti.
With Lauriano Azinheirinha as new chief of staff and Olivier Bettati as special advisor, Christian Estrosi finds old hands in politics at his side.
The first was first his appreciated and recognized deputy for Education, then his general director of services and vice-president of the departmental council.
Before a desire to leave within the group of private clinics “Kantys”, prevented by the High Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (Hatvp).
He finally returned to the head of the tourist office.
He now wears the political costume of chief of staff but some see him as too big.
“It was more fluid with his predecessor
,” slips a collaborator.
Others prefer to praise
“his loyalty”
and his
“political sense”
.
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Friend-enemy
The second was a friend, then an enemy, then a friend again, all for nearly 35 years and after having participated together in founding the RPR in the Alpes-Maritimes.
Olivier Bettati is in his own way a figure in Riviera politics and even beyond.
In 2013, their relationship seemed consumed, to the point that Olivier Bettati even decided to present a list against him the following year.
And to the point of flirting with the National Front and supporting the candidacy of Marion Maréchal against Christian Estrosi in the 2015 regional elections.
At the same time, he sat in the municipal and metropolitan opposition.
The verbal jousts were violent, not to say grotesque.
“He was treated like nothing
,” remembers an elected official, stunned to see him acting “buddy-buddy” today.
But here again the two men are united by a common cause: not letting Éric Ciotti, the boss of the Republicans and deputy for the 1st constituency, take Nice city hall in two years.
“Many will only remember the confrontation, but they don't know that the two did a lot of blows together
,” explains a person close to the two dinosaurs, made of the same leather.
The exact role of Olivier Bettati remains unclear although an office has been made available to him within the municipality.
“Bringing up without filter the little things of the daily life of the people of Nice
,” he summarized in
Nice-Matin
.
Translation: shake hands, reform a network, win back the votes of those attracted by the Ciottist dynamic, but also try to improve the execrable relationship that the town hall maintains with the local press.
“It’s a way of putting yourself in battle order
,” people around them comment.
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Rightization
It is also a way of putting a move towards the right of Eric Ciotti.
His move to the FN, even if he never joined it, was not just a simple display of revenge.
“At the end of his mandate, Estrosi will be more right-wing than Ciotti!”
, bets a former collaborator.
But internally, these arrivals do not please everyone.
“The mayor has surrounded himself with wankers
,” dares a regular in the corridors of the town hall to say.
Someone close to Eric Ciotti is still cautious.
“The Estrosi camp no longer knew how to play Nice-style politics, so we will see in the facts.
Bettati is going to serve them chard pies and pissaladière, and then?”
A change has also taken place at the head of the cabinet, in charge of managing the agenda of the president-mayor.
Jean-Sébastien Martinez left his place to Laurent Champenois to join the tourist office.
A game of musical chairs that Estrosi hopes will go smoothly after having also somewhat modified the delegations granted to his elected officials.