Paris (AFP)

"Gather", "support": a thousand people, including ministers and executives of the party LREM, were gathered Thursday evening in a Paris theater to support Benjamin Griveaux, candidate for municipal Paris, the day after a controversy over remarks injuriously disclosed in the press.

Ecology, solidarity, "babysitting check of 50 hours a year" for "parents who have more time for nothing", access to housing, creation of "a municipal mutual" in the capital, municipal police, cleanliness or the creation of a "Paris Council of ecological defense" directly attached to the mayor of Paris: Benjamin Griveaux has ginned a series of projects in front of a sold out room, come to cheer for his first campaign meeting organized in a theater of the Xth arrondissement.

The meeting comes a week after his inauguration won after a bitter campaign between candidates - Mounir Mahjoubi, Cédric Villani, Anne Lebreton, or Hugues Renson - and the day after a controversy. In a "private conversation", the former spokesman called "stupid", among other unwelcoming remarks, his former competitors.

Despite the absence of his former contestants at the nomination on Thursday evening, Benjamin Griveaux, after ginning their first names, sent them a call: "Your place is here".

"It's unfortunate but stinky balls, there are and there will be," resigned a walker, on condition of anonymity.

"We can start very badly and get to the end", wants to believe Jean-Noel, 32 years old. "We are only at the beginning of the campaign" and "everything is still possible", he assures AFP.

Around the candidate, many elected LREM came to support: the deputies Olivia Grégoire, in the ceremony, Laetitia Avia, Olivia Grégoire, Sylvain Maillard, Gilles Legendre, Pacôme Rupin (also Campaign Director), Ministers Marlène Schiappa ( Equality between women and men), Julien Denormandie (Housing) and Sibeth Ndiaye (spokesman of the government) or elected Parisian Eric Azière (UDI-Modem) and Julien Bargeton (Macronist left).

"This campaign launch is important, we must show our support, gather walkers and Parisians," said AFP Laetitia Avia, "convinced" that the unfortunate candidates for the nomination "will rally" to Benjamin Griveaux, including Cédric Villani, who postponed his decision until September.

"This is unfortunately classic in politics, comments taken out of context leaked are part of political life.The most important thing is that they spoke and that Benjamin Griveaux expressed regret," said Laetitia Avia.

As for the rallying of its former candidates, "we must give them time", she adds, saying that "the time they put to decant is at the height of the energy they put in their campaigns ".

© 2019 AFP