Strasbourg (AFP)

The outgoing president of the Grand Est, Jean Rottner (LR), formalized his candidacy for the regional elections next month on Monday, in an interview with the newspapers of the regional daily press.

"I am a candidate in the regional elections", he announced in the offices of the newspaper L'Alsace in his town of Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin), where he is currently first deputy, after having been the mayor.

"What motivates my candidacy is that I want to make the Grand Est region and my commitment, with my team, the headquarters of the return to life, and the revival," he said.

The former emergency doctor, aged 54, took over as head of the Grand Est Region in 2017 after the resignation of his predecessor Philippe Richert.

Jean Rottner has seen his notoriety jump since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, where his region and his city of Mulhouse had to face a terrible first wave.

Due to his past as a caregiver, he has spoken often and he was one of the first elected to order protective masks in the spring of 2020.

"My political line is that of decentralization, of proximity to the territories (...) of efficiency and of the demonstration that through a political project, a political mandate, we serve people. My line policy, it is that of work on employment, (...) it is that of sustainable development, on mobility. It is all these skills that we assume and which simplify people's daily lives ", Mr. Rottner said again.

"I am a Republican, I remain a Republican," he insisted, even though he said he wanted to expand his right-wing majority "to our friends in the center, to independents, to ecological sensitivities, to the socio-professional world, to all those actors who appreciated the work accomplished and want to amplify it ".

Jean Rottner enjoys wide support from local elected officials.

Thus, 1,000 mayors of the Grand Est (out of 5,121 municipalities on January 1, 2019) have signed a support platform for the LR candidate.

"The measures decided and initiated by President Jean Rottner (...) have made it possible to better endure the crisis and to prepare for the rebound expected by all. Without a doubt, Jean Rottner is today the person who embodies energy and 'future of our region,' write the 1,000 elected officials, led by François Grosdidier, the mayor of Metz.

The main opponents of Jean Rottner will be the National Rally candidate Laurent Jacobelli and Minister Brigitte Klinkert, who announced his candidacy "without a label" on Friday.

"Me, I am not at the orders of anyone. I present myself out of passion and desire," resumed Jean Rottner, referring to the candidate for the presidential majority.

As for the RN, he wishes to fight it "by demonstrating that his assertions are generally contrary to the facts".

"We are there to build and unite, not to destroy and separate. The RN uses the words freedom and equality, but never fraternity. Me, I want to build a pact of the future with the inhabitants", estimated Mr. Rottner.

For the time being, despite discussions, no union on the left.

Eliane Romani is the head of an EELV list supported by the PCF and the PS, while the former socialist minister Aurélie Filippetti (ex-PS) is at the head of "The unpublished call", launched with the LFI MP Caroline Fiat and the first PS secretary of Bas-Rhin, Pernelle Richardot.

© 2021 AFP