Departmental in Val-de-Marne: the right ready for battle (and convinced of its victory)

This time, is it the right one?

The Republicans are convinced of it.

The department of Val-de-Marne, the last in the hands of the PCF, is within reach.

In 2015, he narrowly missed it.

But for these departmental June, there is no lack of assets.

This Thursday, Olivier Capitanio (LR) leader of the team "Together New Years Eve Val-de-Marne" officially launched the campaign, the day after the closing of the submission of applications, and presented a united team with no hitch ( or almost) the UDI, Free!

and the unregistered.

A chosen tempo, while the left (without EELV) started for several weeks.

"It was not necessary to launch out too early in the uncertain context", argues the team leader, who acknowledges relying on "a common dynamic" with the campaign of Valérie Pécresse (Libres!), President of the region. outgoing, well placed in the polls.

And to underline that if the department changes, "the work will be much more fluid with the region than today".

Read alsoDepartmentals in Val-de-Marne: a ballot where anything can happen

This presentation to the press, orchestrated in Créteil, was intended to be precise and symbolic.

Sitting to his left, the senator and boss of the UDI in Val-de-Marne Laurent Lafon, to his right Vincent Jeanbrun, the mayor (Libres!) Of L'Haÿ-les-Roses and vice-president for the region , a lieutenant of Valérie Pécresse.

"There is a desire to turn the page on communism"

Next to them, two former Modem, Sabine Patoux now Free!

and Jean-Pierre Barnaud who joined the UDI.

Two elected officials, at odds with their party's strategy following the municipal elections.

The Modem having chosen to ally with LREM.

This is still the case in this election.

“This union is an extremely important element of the work-study program,” recalls Laurent Lafon.

It was necessary to arrive there, that each one makes the necessary efforts.

"

Last symbol if there is one, at the end of the table, Métin Yavuz, outgoing departmental councilor who rocked “Little Siberia”, or the indestructible city of Valenton last June.

It is also the conquest of four new communist cities, after six firsts in 2014 that gives Olivier Capitanio a smile.

“There is a desire to turn the page on 50 years of communism,” he brandishes.

Reason for which sixteen mayors are titular or substitute candidates, with all those who got their hands on the communist towns (Choisy, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, Valenton, Champigny), young mayors (Julien Weil in Saint-Mandé) but also heavy goods vehicles (Jacques-Alain Bénisti in Villiers).

And few new faces, finally.

Only one mayor (LR) appears, Didier Gonzales in Villeneuve-le-Roi, but “is not part” of “Together we wake up the Val-de-Marne” following “local tensions”.

As for the mayor (Free!) Of Champigny-sur-Marne, Laurent Jeanne, he is ultimately only a substitute, to challenge the outgoing PCF president of the departmental council, Christian Favier.

Accumulation of candidatures requires, it is already on the list to the regional ones.

“He is part of the outgoing executive, he has put a lot of energy and talent into his delegation.

And the region is important for a city like Champigny ”, explains Vincent Jeanbrun.

But without a doubt, it looks like he will be fighting well, as a holder.

The project focused on the living environment

Ready for battle, the right is claiming it and has honed its arguments. While the left insists on the risk of seeing a right put an end to the public policies which are the singularity of the department, Olivier Capitanio replies: “They rely on fear to stay in power. We are not here to break, but to build. Why we would end policies that we have always supported, like nurseries, Ordival, or the Imagin'R card. "Moreover, it promises 1000 additional nursery places by" completing "the nursery plan for the outgoing majority and helping to develop micro-nurseries.

But a team is not everything.

We also need a project: "Make Val-de-Marne the benchmark in terms of quality of life in the inner suburbs," he warns.

And the mayor of Maisons-Alfort, who did not say who would succeed him at the town hall in the event of victory, has taken a number of measures around the ecological transition.

A theme in tune with the times, on the left as well as on the right.

In the lead, make the department the first photovoltaic farm in France, by installing panels on the roofs of departmental buildings, a source of green energy and… financial resources.

But also, plant 50,000 trees during the mandate, including in private homes as is done in Maisons-Alfort, install islands of freshness, etc.

To convince, the right also released its argument on security (video-protection at the exit of colleges and prevention and security brigades), less concreteization (stop using concrete in cities that exceed 40% of social housing), or a look at the most vulnerable, by making autism the great cause of the mandate ...

Will this be enough?

Other proposals must emerge.

But above all, in this campaign, the right and the center intend to demonstrate the "failure" of the outgoing majority.

“They claim to be a social shield, but the situation has deteriorated for the most modest.

It remains to be seen whether these arguments will mobilize the electorate.

And which one?