- After the first round of the municipal elections on March 15, there are three candidates for mayor of Nantes: Johanna Rolland (PS-EELV), Laurence Garnier (LR) and Valérie Oppelt (LREM)
- Arriving in second position with 19.93% of the votes cast, Laurence Garnier, 41, is an outsider.
- After the crisis, his rejection of a metropolis "with a million inhabitants" was further reinforced.
Arriving in second place but more than 11 points behind the list of Johanna Rolland (PS) the evening of March 15 in Nantes, Laurence Garnier does not admit defeat. The candidate from the right and from the center, who has closed her office to conduct a "telecampaign" due to the health crisis, returns for 20 Minutes to the context of this second round of municipal elections and her project for Nantes.
Isn't leaving to campaign too difficult, after the health crisis and your result of the first round (19.93%)?
The state of mind with which I leave is that of a sportswoman, who I am. I will go until the final whistle given by the Nantes on June 28, even if I have already made it known that I was not in favor of this date. It is not at this moment that we can be interested in the election and exchange serenely about the future of the next six years. I deeply regret this because the short-term challenges linked to the crisis, which are very real, risk overshadowing those of the long term. I am worried about the state in which we will find our city in 2026, for example on the question of security which is far from being resolved, if nothing is done to initiate a change.
Did the alliance between the Greens and the PS surprise you?
Political politics took precedence over the project during this second round. We had not ruled out this hypothesis even if I had found Madame Laernoes highly vindictive towards Madame Rolland. Many voters of the first, who had supported her to show their opposition to the outgoing mayor, must have felt betrayed, because they do not agree on anything: I am certainly much closer to the project of Johanna Rolland than 'it is not the one worn by the Greens! The city will be impossible to govern if this unnatural team is renewed. And we will no longer be stagnant but in decline!
Why did you not manage to get along with Valérie Oppelt (LREM)?
We had common points but she chose to propose this improbable alliance of common list to all the candidates. On Thursday, however, she had given me her agreement to open discussions. And on Friday she called me back to say "finally no". So I don't know what happened, except that there is a lot of dissension within his team.
Has the Covid Crisis changed elements of your program?
She comforted them. First, there is the urgency of a moratorium on the CHU project on the island of Nantes, which is a bad project in the wrong place. This will be my first step while there is still time to stop the project: after YelloPark, Nantes should not become the capital of absurd projects. I also often said during the campaign that I did not want a metropolis with a million inhabitants, and the health crisis only reinforces my conviction. I am for a sober and responsible growth, thinking about the scale of the living areas (Ancenis, Châteaubriant ...) to a better distribution of jobs, housing, services ...
The crisis has shown this need for space and greening. To confine oneself in a house a little far from Nantes is easier than with the 12th floor of a tower of Port-Boyer. The role of the politician is to stimulate this, Nantes cannot continue to aspire to everything. Transport and networks must be developed to encourage teleworking in these basins, in order to attract businesses and housing stakeholders.
The results of the 1st round in Nantes
How do you imagine your future in the event of defeat? In the Senate as claimed by Johanna Rolland?
I will continue to fight for the Nantes even if I still hope to reverse the trend. I am still convinced of the need for change in Nantes and I am the only list that embodies it! As for the Senate, it is indeed one of the possibilities [it was second on the list of Senator Christophe Priou] but like many other things: I could resume my job in the car, have another child, go live in the tropics … I can see Madame Rolland's little game, but I would prefer that she fight my project rather than indulge in this kind of uninteresting reflection.
Municipal
Municipal 2020 in Nantes: How does the second round look in the agglomeration and the region
Municipal
Municipal 2020 in Nantes: "This union is not only a political agreement to win", swear PS and Greens
- Nantes
- Video
- Elections
- Municipal
- The Republicans
- Laurence Garnier