"I am the candidate of anger that I want to transform into hope. (...) I want a France that is just because it is united, a France that is united because it is just," she declared straight away, in front of a a thousand people gathered at the Palais des Congrès in Perpignan, a city held by the RN.

"I come, they say, to a stronghold of the extreme right, in a hostile environment, in a city doomed to retreat. But there is no stronghold in France, there is no private preserve. , forbidden land. There is only one Republic! ”she said.

She launched "an appeal for the unity of France", presenting herself as a candidate "of concord", "of reconciliation of France with itself and of the appeasement of a divided France".

Anne Hidalgo, who unsuccessfully offered a primary to her left-wing competitors on Wednesday, argued that it is "the only way to come together".

"Without union there is no destiny for the left, but without the left it is no longer France, it is no longer democracy. We will try everything to achieve this union", she said promised.

"We still have time to debate fraternally in front of the citizens, to submit to their verdict and to accept it", she assured before calling for a start: "Division is resignation, c it is powerlessness, it is abstention. So: wake up! Measure the danger that awaits us! ".

The candidate spoke "in an ultimate nightmare, a victory for the far right", which "would relegate France to the rank of small xenophobic and racist countries".

"This retreating France is not ours! This nation confused in an aggressive nostalgia is not ours! This France with a falsified past is not ours", she chanted before proclaiming: " On this land which sings to the wind of Spain, with this accent which is that of freedom, I say it to you with all my soul: No pasaran! ".

Deploying her program, the mayor of Paris in particular promised "the right to vote in local elections" for foreigners and "that undocumented people living in France for a long time, having work and housing will be regularized ".

"My five-year term will begin with clear and clear purchasing power measures, by increasing wages, starting with a 15% increase in the minimum wage", she further explained before promising: "President, I will sanctuary at 62 years the age of retirement. It is the oath of Perpignan ".

Among its main proposals is still the opening of the right to vote at 16 years.

© 2021 AFP