- After the withdrawal of Benjamin Griveaux, it is Agnès Buzyn who is the LREM candidate in the capital.
- Less than a month before the first round, she returns for 20 Minutes to her campaign, her proposals, her vision for Paris and to the "soul" of the capital.
- The former Minister of Health wanted to put an end to the controversy over the city's preparation for the coronvirus.
"I will be the minister ... the mayor of solutions in Paris". In the middle of an interview, this slight slip reminds us that a few days ago, Agnès Buzyn was Minister of Health. But after the abandonment of Benjamin Griveaux, she was propelled into the countryside to represent La République en Marche in the capital. Flash campaign, coronavirus, rejection of the ZAC Bercy-Charenton project or even the pleasure of walking in the capital… The candidate answered 20 Minutes questions in her campaign HQ, located in the 15th arrondissement.
You have been nominated candidate one month before the first round to replace Benjamin Griveaux. So can we become mayor of Paris in thirty days?
I have known this city since always and when I see the slow deterioration of the capital, I see that it is not because we have been mayor of Paris or in the municipal team for 18 years [Anne Hidalgo was elected councilor from Paris alongside Bertrand Delanoë in 2001] that we have demonstrated an ability to manage. Parisians feel attacked, little listened to, and sometimes mistreated.
I am a woman of files, I know how to lead a collective, and I want to bring my know-how. I can reconcile technicality and people. I was a doctor, I know the human pains, the intimate. This is what we lack in this city: the ability to listen and manage.
"To improvise as mayor of Paris is very dangerous," Rachida Dati attacked you on Monday. How to be credible with Parisians?
My background and my experience are proofs of credibility: safety of nuclear power plants at IRSN (Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety), where I managed Fukushima, National Cancer Institute, Presidency of the High Authority for Health, then minister ... So this angle of attack will very quickly deflate, because I believe I have managed things much heavier and can be even more dangerous than the town hall of Paris. These arguments don't take two seconds when you look at my professional career.
Three days before your appointment, on France Inter, you felt that you could not be a candidate due to a "very busy agenda" to which was added "the coronavirus crisis". Wasn't the priority to stay in government?
I was asked to be on the 15th arrondissement list, while remaining a minister, for Benjamin Griveaux, before he decided to withdraw from this campaign. My duties did not allow it. I was able to fully engage in the municipal elections by leaving a ministry where I settled many files: the hospital file was behind me and, concerning the coronavirus, I anticipated the epidemic by preparing the healthcare system.
You have been accused of prioritizing "LREM's interest over the national interest" ...
I am flattered to see all these people regret me at the Ministry of Health, I take it as a compliment. Maybe that means I was doing a good job. In our country, there are high quality administrations, health professionals, who know how to manage such a health crisis.
You say that Anne Hidalgo did not prepare Paris for the arrival of the coronavirus. This morning on Europe 1, she talks about "irresponsible words" ...
It was not at all a controversy. I am surprised that Mrs. Hidalgo, in the middle of the campaign, organized a press conference in the town hall to react to my words [her first assistant, Emmanuel Grégoire, held a press conference on the measures taken by the city against the coronavirus this Monday afternoon]. I was simply asked if the city was prepared, it was a completely banal statement, which brought a form of hysterization.
The mayor of Paris has unveiled a letter revealing that your ministry had "thanked" the city for the arrangements put in place ...
I really don't want to argue about this.
Sunday, you presented your program around two axes: cleanliness and safety. The same two as Rachida Dati. "She quickly learns to copy the program of others," also tackled the candidate Les Républicains on France Info. Is the right project a source of inspiration?
(Laughs) No! But what people want is cleanliness and safety. These are the biggest failures of Anne Hidalgo. This city has been abandoned. This city has been roughed up. Madame Hidalgo degraded the quality of life in Paris. We must restore order.
On cleanliness, what do you offer?
Two challenges: waste collection and street cleaning. On the first, I want to contract with private companies for collection, this will deploy more cleaning agents on the ground. I also want to help Parisians sort their waste better: today, only 20% of what could be recycled is actually!
On street cleaning, we will have a lot more staff, and I want to better equip them with machines, because a simple broom is not enough. I also plan to develop public trash cans towards sorting. They constantly overflow and are attacked by rats which proliferate. Paris must once again become the City of Lights. It is far too dirty today, it is unbearable.
What sets you apart from your competitors?
First, the frantic fight against pollution. This city is not healthy, is not sufficiently prepared for climate change. We must green the city, clean it up. The second thing is to support the most fragile. The current mayor spoke only to a certain audience: young active people, quite connected. That's good, it takes. But the elderly, the disabled, families with children, single-parent families, the poorest have not been sufficiently taken into account. We have to reunify the city. For example, I offer a public support service for families to help elderly people stay at home.
You presented a purified program of certain flagship proposals from Benjamin Griveaux (moving the Gare de l'Est to create a "Central Park" or the contribution of 100,000 euros to help purchase a property). Why ?
I took over a campaign but it must be mine. Basic work has been done, but there are proposals that I preferred not to accept. In particular to do major work to move the Gare de l'Est. It does not seem to me to be the priority of Parisians. Of the 100,000 euros, I considered that this measure was likely to be inflationary. Affordable housing is a priority, but there are other ways to do it.
What do you suggest for housing, against rising rents and soaring prices per square meter?
Rent control was necessary because there was rampant inflation. Even if it is to be handled with care. I propose to quickly put 20,000 vacant units on the market out of the 100,000 available. It will be a breath of fresh air for the middle classes. I want to reassure these owners who no longer dare to rent. A service will be in charge of helping them to put their goods on the market, in a secure manner, by simplifying administrative procedures.
And what do you guarantee for tenants who find themselves queuing in stairwells for an apartment, because of a tight market?
The problem in Paris today is supply. There are not any. These vacant units put back on the market must be a priority.
If you are elected, will you reopen the lanes on the bank to cars?
Returning the banks to the Parisians was a great operation, I have no intention of going back over them, I also want to revegetate them.
I just note that this good idea has turned into a problem given the method used by the town hall. This should have been anticipated, by setting up public transport which takes over. This closure of the tracks resulted in more traffic jams, more pollution.
What I want is greener, less polluting transport, with more bikes and more public transport. It is the spirit of the times. What differentiates us, Anne Hidalgo and me, is the method. It does what I call a punitive ecology, with brutal announcements that are never anticipated. My way of doing it will be to better organize the transitions.
You said that "the city of Paris was not prepared for climate change". Why ?
It is a totally concrete city. When there are periods of heat wave, it is overheated, it is hell. There is concrete and bitumen everywhere, no shaded areas. Anne Hidalgo never stopped biting. As a result, the Place de la République and the Place de la Bastille [recently renovated] are heat islands. There is a space that could be ventilated, with gardens, it is Bercy-Charenton, and she wants to put six towers in it.
Are you against the ZAC Bercy-Charenton project?
Completely against. I find it crazy. This city is the densest in Europe. We have to green and let it breathe. So we cannot continue to build buildings. The Bercy-Charenton project is ecological nonsense.
Have you had more success in dialogue with Cédric Villani than in Benjamin Griveaux's?
Yes, we are both scientists and we know each other well before our commitments. We will find a way to work together.
After the first round?
Yes, I have no doubt about it. We have more things that bring us together than things that divide us.
You said that the terraces, especially heated, were the soul of Paris. What other elements define the soul of the capital?
My greatest pleasure in life is walking the streets. That's the soul of Paris. It is a city where you walk, where you marvel at a monument. The soul of Paris is this pleasure. But I believe it no longer exists.
Because we no longer take the time in life?
No, because the sidewalks are strewn with debris and waste, they are poorly maintained and we fall, because scooters block the road, because we have motorcycles lying on the side. Walking in Paris has become an obstacle course. We no longer take the time to look at her beauty because we spend our time trying to find out where we set foot.
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- municipal
- Elections
- Paris
- Benjamin griveaux
- Rachida Dati
- Agnes Buzyn
- LREM
- Anne Hidalgo