Paris (AFP)
Fight against loneliness in Paris, return to the four-day week at school: the candidate invested by La République on the march for the municipal elections in Paris, Benjamin Griveaux, presented his program for the capital on Thursday.
"This city is often thought of for working people ... not for seniors," lamented the former government spokesperson, before his supporters and head of lists invested in the boroughs.
In front of a hundred supporters, the 40-something ginned his measures, leaving the floor to the outgoing mayors who joined him, including the ex-LR Delphine Bürkli (IXth arrondissement) and Florence Berthout (Ve), the ex-PS Frédérique Calandra (20th century) and the former candidate for mayor of Paris who joined him, Pierre-Yves Bournazel.
Besides "the solitude of the elders", Mr. Griveaux also pointed to that of "single parents" including "70,000 women in Paris", to whom "we owe the same possibility of freedom as to any other Parisian", and undertook to set up "with each district mayor, an assistant responsible for the fight against loneliness and anonymity".
He wishes, for example, "to develop nursing home programs", and to ensure "a respite of 10 days a year for family carers, by taking charge of the person assisted, at home or in a specialized establishment".
So that the elderly are not forced to leave the city, it is necessary "to launch a massive plan of security, accessibility and renovation of the sidewalks", assured the candidate.
Regarding children, the LREM candidate wants to "return to the four-day week" and establish a "green Wednesday", where "school children can go for a walk in the forest, visit a castle, discover a museum or an educational farm ".
According to several opinion studies, Benjamin Griveaux comes third in the voting intentions for the municipal elections, behind the outgoing mayor PS Anne Hidalgo and the LR Rachida Dati, but before the ecologist David Belliard, and the ex-LREM Cédric Villani.
© 2020 AFP