The arrival of Agnès Buzyn in the municipal elections in Paris did not move Cédric Villani. The dissident candidate of En Marche, excluded from the party, which salutes the "courage" of the former Minister of Health, however refuses to support his candidacy, at least in the first round.
And after ? The member for Essonne says that he is "a man of openness and dialogue. From there to see the omen of a rapprochement between the two towers ...
Agnès Buzyn, now candidate of En Marche in Paris, is like you from civil society, the scientific world, close to Emmanuel Macron. Do you not fear that it will nibble on your electorate?
CÉDRIC VILLANI. I obviously have respect for Agnès Buzyn. She has the courage to embark on this campaign four weeks before the first round. In this extremely confused landscape, it is essential to have consistency, clearly displayed priorities, a solid and funded project for the future of the capital, which is my case. You know it: the environmental transition is the keystone of my program. I haven't heard Agnes Buzyn talk about it since she started campaigning. Paris deserves a peaceful debate where everyone presents their project for the future of Parisians.
Is an alliance from the first round with Buzyn possible?
She clearly refused it ( Editor's note: in her interview with Le Parisien this Monday ). I take note. We are depositing all of our lists by borough at this time.
However, Agnès Buzyn believes that it is you who are establishing a “balance of power”, preventing any alliance…
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There is no power struggle on my part, just the assertion of my convictions and my priorities. I have only recalled the essential proposals that I have been defending for months. It was my responsibility. I defend a climate plan that I budgeted at 5 billion euros, double that of the outgoing mandate, but also the enlargement of Paris that I am the only one to carry. Should I give up my convictions under the guise of electoral strategy? It is not my conception of politics.
Didn't Agnès Buzyn's arrival change the situation?
Of course. It is a new personality in this election and it is natural that it announces a personal touch. When you are a candidate for the Paris City Hall, it makes sense that the program reflects our backgrounds, our sensitivities.
Is this new situation not likely to break a dynamic for you?
Launch this independent and free approach, unprecedented in Paris, nobody believed it! I have four weeks left to create the surprise. To vote for me is to impose new ideas in the debate.
Isn't your approach likely to make En Marche lose in Paris?
My candidacy adds rather than subtracts and allows me to speak to Parisians wherever they come from, whatever their sensitivity. This freedom is essential to build an alternation and get out of a failing management that has resulted in Paris today: tense, split, cut off from its crown, with an east-west divide. I want to repair the Paris of 2020 and at the same time prepare the Paris of 2030, restore order to public space and achieve the world's first zero carbon metropolis.
For the second round, is an alliance with Agnès Buzyn still possible?
I am a man of openness and dialogue. Today, no one can win Paris alone. This is why programmatic convergence will be essential to achieve the alternation that two-thirds of Parisians hope for.
You accept the idea of joining forces with David Belliard's Greens in the second round. Is it not impossible to ally yourself with the latter and Buzyn at the same time?
Do we have to talk now about agreements, alliances, conditions when all the projects are not on the table? I presented mine on February 5. We still haven't seen those of Rachida Dati or Agnes Buzyn. For my part, I hope that the gathering will be done on the basis of progressivism and a scientific and rational ecology, which allows me to speak to David Belliard as to Agnes Buzyn.
VIDEO. Agnès Buzin to Cédric Villani: "My hand remains outstretched, but I will stop there"
You oppose an LREM list wanted by Emmanuel Macron. Do you also oppose its policy?
I committed to En Marche in 2017 on the values of Emmanuel Macron: Europe, innovation and major challenges of the future. My conviction is that the ecological component must be strengthened. On pensions, I agree with the general principles of the reform and very early on, I encouraged an agreement between the government and the reformist unions because it is only with the intermediary bodies that such a reform can be set up.
Two last polls credit you with 7 and 10 % of the voting intentions. Do you still believe it?
An old politician told me that he had never participated in such an unexpected election in his life. Everything is still possible. I have a documented program, lists in all the boroughs and the bet for the draw of 10% of the candidates has succeeded. All this, I accomplished in freedom and independence. This is my asset. This is the project of a scientist, who entered politics to improve the lives of my fellow citizens.
