Bruno Dellasudda and Loïc Fortuit surround Olivier Besancenot. “The municipal elections are a national event. It will be an opportunity to deliver a strong blow to Nicolas Sarkozy and his government,” declares Olivier Besancenot, spokesperson for the LCR. A press conference right in the center of the Moulins district: The chosen location is not random, coming just days after the announcement of Nicolas Sarkozy and Fadela Amara’s “suburban plan.” The former presidential candidate, who received 1.5 million votes and has taken a one-month leave of absence, positions himself as the main opponent of the UMP. The challenge is to symbolize through votes the opposition to the government: “If they can lose the maximum number of municipalities they had, so much the better. It’s not us who will be crying.”
In Nice, the NICEA list aims to be 100% left-wing, 100% anti-capitalist, 100% ecologist, and feminist. It is made up of alternatives, members of the LCR, unionists, and community activists. Olivier Besancenot supports it. The Alternative Bruno Dellasudda, city councilor and head of the NICEA list, discusses his project for Nice: “In Nice, the most important thing is the approach and the program. Our approach is collective, it’s a stance, and it’s deliberate. We are fed up with this political representation that puts egos first at the expense of projects and proposals. The campaign we are leading in Nice is original, and we embrace it.”
The gathering on the NICEA List approaches the new anti-capitalist party that Olivier Besancenot wants to create. He sees this as a step but without particular significance: “It’s an opportunity to bond with each other, but the presence of LCR militants in 209 lists has never been a prerequisite for building a new anti-capitalist party. It’s an important step. We will continue afterwards to discuss with the Alternatives, anti-liberal collectives, the Communist Party, the Workers’ Fight.”
The goal of the 209 lists where the LCR is present is to obtain the maximum number of municipal councillors. To this end, Olivier Besancenot calls against tactical voting: “In the first round, it would be good to vote for what we believe. The radical left is accustomed to being the victim of tactical voting. We meet many people who tell us: we agree with what you say but we are not going to vote for you. We are the most capable of resisting the right before, during, and after the elections. It is also a way of issuing a notice in anticipation of tomorrow’s mobilizations.” Loïc Fortuit, the Nice spokesperson for the LCR, adds: “This is an opportunity to bring politics back to the center of the debate, to advance on truly left-wing proposals, to give power to the people including financially and not just in a consultative capacity.”
Olivier Besancenot’s stop in Nice is important for the four lists where the LCR is present in the Alpes-Maritimes. So far, only Christian Estrosi had received a visit from his “boss.” The most famous postman in France, with a salary of 1200 euros, had not held a meeting in the department for his presidential campaign. On Tuesday, although his visit was brief and he had to cancel the visit to the Ariane district due to the air traffic controllers’ strike, he did not forget to come and support his Azurian comrades in the heart of the UMP stronghold. The morale of the troops is boosted.
Bruno Dellasudda and Loïc Fortuit surround Olivier Besancenot. PICT0013.JPGpub2.jpg
