• The LR mayor of Nice, who has formed "plural" majorities, does not seem to fear local repercussions after the departure of the Republicans.

  • For the regional lists which will be validated on the evening of May 17, and for which Christian Estrosi is responsible for the Alpes-Maritimes, discussions could be hectic with the party.

He decided to regain his "freedom", but at what cost? By announcing that he was leaving The Republicans, scratching in the process his former ally Eric Ciotti, does Christian Estrosi risk seeing himself weakened locally? In its majorities, in the municipal council of Nice and in the metropolis, some elected officials, close to a stricter line at LR as defended by the deputy from the Riviera, could they decide to turn their backs on him?

“I am LR and proud of it, but what is happening right now will not prevent me from moving the community forward with Christian Estrosi.

The metropolis is not the place to defend this kind of other interests, ”argues Bertrand Gasiglia.

The mayor of Tourretes-Levens, among the 130 elected representatives of the metropolitan council, is a former collaborator of the mayor of Nice, also close to Eric Ciotti and has no plans to take sides.

"Various, plural majorities outside the political parties"

Dissent could always materialize but their weight would not be significant a priori. Especially since Christian Estrosi has been able to cast a wide net over the course of his mandates. He surrounded himself with LREM figures (which was especially criticized by LR), left-wing personalities (Patrick Mottard and Marc Concas) and other “members of civil society”.

"I choose the best and I do not look at the label," he explained in January 2020 in an interview with 20 Minutes.

And in the entourage of the mayor and president of the Nice Côte d'Azur metropolis, we are not too worried about these possible dissent: "His majorities are diverse, plural and are outside the political parties".

"We have eight sensitivities", specifies Pierre-Paul Leonelli, vice-president of the municipal majority Nice ensemble and president of the association of the Friends of the mayor.

"Some are fed up"

There remains the question of the elections to come.

RAS for the departmental, whose lists, stopped Thursday evening, the same day as the announcement of Christian Estrosi to leave LR, have not had to undergo the upheavals of recent days.

They often display pairs in perfect balance.

With a candidate close to Christian Estrosi and another that we associate with Eric Ciotti.

"Some are however fed up with seeing, for example in the ninth canton of Nice, LR supporting Philippe Soussi, clearly LREM candidate close to the mayor of Nice", understands Philippe Vardon.

The leader of the RN thinks that his party could even "play the role of a bridge with people from LR who are tired of this situation".

For the regional lists which will be validated on the evening of May 17, and for which Christian Estrosi is responsible for the Alpes-Maritimes, the discussions could be more eventful.

Pierre-Paul Léonelli, also regional councilor, expects it.

Even if he hopes "that reason will prevail" and that "all these little people will work in good understanding".

Politics

The mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi leaves Les Républicains, caught according to him in a "drift"

Elections

New rebound, Sophie Cluzel (LREM) finally maintains her candidacy for the regional Paca

  • Elections

  • LREM

  • Mayor

  • The Republicans (France)

  • Nice

  • Christian Estrosi