Paris (AFP)

"Ground, ground, ground!": One week before the second round of the municipal elections, Rachida Dati is increasing trips to Paris to boost her momentum and pose the second round in a duel against the outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo.

Black sneakers and sweater "life is simple" ("life is simple"), a wicker basket on her arm, the candidate LR walks the aisles of the small market in Antwerp, flanked by her candidate from the 9th arrondissement Pierre Maurin who is struggling sometimes to follow the whirlwind of greetings, selfies and exchanges with passers-by.

"I do extras!" Jokes the candidate, distributing leaflets.

- Ah I already received it at home, answers a lady.

- I put it in your mailbox! "

Rachida Dati is Friday evening at her fourth trip of the day. On Saturday, three new boroughs are on the program. Because the candidate enthusiastically reproduces the recipe for the first round that placed her behind Anne Hidalgo (22.7% against 29.3%), while few bet on her chances at the start of the campaign.

"You don't see any other candidate in the field, I never saw Agnès Buzyn in the 19th, 18th, 10th, 20th centuries, never," she said.

In this extended campaign, the ex-minister of Nicolas Sarkozy is indeed trying to attract the voters of the candidate LREM (arrived third with 17.3% of the votes) to weigh against Anne Hidalgo, given as favorite after his agreement with the Greens.

Wednesday evening, a televised debate gave rise to a tense exchange, Rachida Dati assuring in particular that "the values ​​of Mrs. Buzyn are to lie to the French".

Coming in support, the boss of LR Christian Jacob repeats it: "no one imagines for a moment that Agnes Buzyn is one day mayor of Paris, not even her. The only alternative is Rachida Dati".

The IXth is one of the rare arrondissements where LREM can dream of a victory if Delphine Bürkli, who came first in the first round (37%), is re-elected. But the outgoing mayor, an ex-LR having changed label during the mandate, had won only 159 votes in 2014: his opponents consider the district to be acceptable.

- "Disgusted" -

"Change is really possible in Paris", repeats Rachida Dati, who does a reverse reading of the score of the outgoing mayor: 29.3% of the vote, this means that "a majority does not want his re-election".

The right, which lost the city in 2001, begins to dream of reconquest, at a time when clouds are gathering over Marseille, a stronghold threatened by the left.

Conqueror in a convalescent party, reinforced by his victory in the seventh from the first round, Rachida Dati therefore resumed her campaign themes, pounding "bloodless finances", "lack of anticipation" and the "catastrophic results" of the outgoing mayor for safety and cleanliness. "Parisians are disgusted", she repeats

After the health crisis, it also enriched its program with specific proposals: tax exemption for businesses, creation of an evolving support fund of 300 million euros, major thermal insulation plan for the social park ...

The challenge is also to bring voters back to the polls, while abstention came close to 58% in the first round with the coronavirus crisis - especially among the elderly.

"Mobilization is what will make the difference. We lost between 4 and 6 points due to the abstention," believes Ms. Dati.

And the candidate, yesterday deemed to be divisive, is now playing the rally card: either in the 15th arrondissement where the two rival LR lists have merged, or with the ex-LR president of the Ile-de-France region Valérie Pécresse, who had nevertheless supported five candidates against LR for the first round.

"Rachida came first from the opposition" so "the rally should naturally take place behind her and around her project," said Ms. Pécresse last weekend, appearing for the first time alongside Rachida Dati on the ground, in the 18th century.

© 2020 AFP