Le Figaro Nantes
The Nantes Greens see red.
In a dynamite interview published Monday in
Presse Océan
, municipal finance assistant Pascal Bolo blasted some of the majority's elected environmentalists.
A historic canal socialist, this traveling companion of Jean-Marc Ayrault and then right-hand man of Mayor Johanna Roland denounced the
“ambiguities”
of his colleagues on the question of the development of the city, before criticizing the excesses of
“certain elected officials
who call to a decline
that does not speak its name.
And for whom
“the word “attractiveness” is a bad word, and the word “development” refers to a hated productivism.”
All while adding, with remarkable understatements, that the Nantes majority is doing, all in all,
“rather not badly”
, and that he was not posing
“any ultimatums”
to his
“ecological friends”.
These rhetorical precautions were not enough to prevent the fire.
The same day, in the middle of the afternoon, the environmentalist and citizen group of Nantes released an offensive press release to react to the attacks made by Pascal Bolo
“isolated within the municipal majority”
.
While denigrating a deputy ready for
“any outrage”
and who
“would have a problem with the issues of our century”,
the Nantes Greens have added to the various themes carried by their elected officials.
“Yes, we are fighting to put a stop to attractiveness, to stop useless projects and to question all new urban developments
,” they assumed.
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“Useless and counterproductive”
Asked by
Le Figaro
, several municipal councilors from the environmental group added a layer on the hussar approach of Pascal Bolo, his trademark.
“He takes his anger out on us because he is unable to attack
La France insoumise
or the internal divisions
of the Socialist Party
,”
recalls Simon Citeau, deputy for the Doulon-Bottière district.
“Like
Waldemar Kita
, Pascal Bolo, this is not the future of Nantes”
, also exclaims Marie Vitoux, elected representative of the Nantes Sud district, before adding:
“From his position as a man, he also allows himself to 'explaining life to women in a condescending and paternalistic tone'
.
Contacted by
Le Figaro,
Pascal Bolo did not wish to comment on
“the controversy”
.
The volcanic reactions aroused by his interview with
Presse Océan,
however, made his own ranks react.
“Anything that divides us is useless and counterproductive.
The comments made in this article do not commit the group
,” Olivier Chateau, co-president of the socialist elected officials in the city of Nantes, felt obliged to clarify online.
The shock wave made even François de Rugy react.
The former President of the National Assembly, who for two years has only retained a discreet mandate as regional advisor, choked up at the mention of the
“stop to attractiveness”
claimed by his former political family.
“The worst part is that they do it very well!
How can we finance solidarity and the ecological transition without development?”,
he expressed dismay on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Pascal Bolo, François de Rugy… Both are politicians at the end of their careers who cling to outdated political software and outdated notions of planning
Tristan Riom, elected environmentalist in the city of Nantes
Not enough to impress Nantes ecologists.
“Pascal Bolo, François de Rugy… Both are politicians at the end of their careers who cling to outdated political software and outdated notions of planning”,
reacts for
Le Figaro
Tristan Riom, deputy to the city and metropolis of Nantes.
“The logic of attractiveness presupposes competition between territories;
we prefer to improve the lives of residents.”
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Latent tensions
The last object of disagreement which ignited the powder was the felling, in February, of 146 trees in the Nantes Nord district, of which Pascal Bolo is the elected delegate.
The operation was part of the construction of new affordable housing, in a context of real estate crisis.
“If we have to cut trees to do it, I am in favor of cutting trees
,” observed Pascal Bolo with pragmatism, not without having denigrated, last month,
“the tartuffery”
of the elected environmentalist Delphine Bonamy.
The finance assistant accused his colleague of having opposed the project after having voted for it in the municipal council.
“We are free to express our disagreements
,” the person concerned has since responded through the press, recalling that the group had only voted for the launch of the project, without being associated with the subsequent developments of the project.
Pascal Bolo simply says out loud what many Nantes socialists think quietly
Julien Bainvel, elected opposition official in the city of Nantes
The socialist and environmentalist components of the Nantes municipal majority have experienced several areas of friction in the past.
Opposition elected official Julien Bainvel (LR) counts them with pleasure.
“The list is long:
Notre-Dame-des-Landes
,
the Heron Tree
, the reconstruction of the Paridis shopping center, the new university hospital, the Nantes Nord health center, not to mention the abandoned car park projects… It’s appalling.
We end up wondering what their points of understanding might be!”,
he tells Le
Figaro.
“Pascal Bolo is a big mouth who gets angry too easily, but he remains an intelligent and very talented person who knows his neighborhood very well,”
a municipal official
confides, off-the-record, to
Figaro .
He is right to attack the Greens who undermine any attempt to achieve constructive ecology in Nantes…”.
An opinion shared by Julien Bainvel, who believes that this
old
-style “gun holder”
“simply says out loud what many Nantes socialists think quietly”.
Namely that environmentalists would devote too much zeal to unraveling the projects of the majority.
And too bad for tensions - and egos.