Nicolas Florian, in the footsteps of Jacques Chirac

Nicolas Florian: “We need a democratic breath, even if the alternation is not a political project. »Ph archives Ugo Amez

Surrounded by the 12 heads of departmental lists, Nicolas Florian officially launched his campaign for the regional elections on Thursday, May 6 in Corrèze. In Sarran, on the esplanade of the Jacques-Chirac Museum, the one that presents as “The leader of the union of the right and the center” in New Aquitaine came under the patronage of the former President of the Republic, to whom he paid tribute at length. “The values ​​of respect, solidarity and authority have guided his career, he recalled. Those able to respond to the challenges that present themselves to us. “ Nicolas Florian also insisted on the former head of state’s attachment to this Limousin territory, where he had begun his political career. Her daughter, Claude, a candidate in the next departmental elections in a canton of Brive, should have been present alongside the former mayor of Bordeaux and his colisters, but personal obligations had kept her in Paris. “She thinks of us, she will be with us to carry the values ​​of the right and the center”, underlined Nicolas Florian.

Far from the psychodrama in Paca, where the inclinations of a rapprochement between The Republicans and The Republic in progress before the 1^is round of the Regionals create a stir, Nicolas Florian ensures that a second round alliance with the macronist candidate Geneviève Darrieussecq will never take place, “For the sake of consistency and clarity”, he believes. And Guillaume Guérin, head of the list in Haute-Vienne, to ironize on the “List of spades and diamonds” Minister LREM, noting that she is teaming up in Gironde with Florent Boudié, former collaborator of Socialist President Rousset. The latter, who is seeking a fifth term, is also in the sights of his right-wing opponents. “We call on our voters to mobilize to express themselves, as much on the catastrophic management of this crisis by the government as on the outdated management of the regional majority, in office for 25 years and prisoner of an alliance with the Greens more besides ideologues ”, points Guillaume Guérin. “We need a democratic breath, even if the alternation is not a political project”, observes Nicolas Florian.

On the program side, the idea of ​​a regional security and crime prevention pact was launched, in particular to “Better protect what comes directly under the Regional Council, such as trains and high schools and their surroundings with video surveillance”, says Nicolas Florian. It also promises the implementation of a massive road investment plan, the continuation of the two high-speed lines Bordeaux-Dax and Bordeaux-Toulouse, the establishment of a job strategy around alternative energies, the creation of Maisons de la Région in each of the 12 departments of Nouvelle-Aquitaine… “Guaranteeing the quality of life, developing the entire territory, supporting economic and democratic transitions will be the three axes of our project”, he sums up, insisting on his desire for decentralization: “It doesn’t have to be decided from Bordeaux, Poitiers or Limoges. “

To support him, Nicolas Florian trusts the experience and local roots of his running mate: Yves Foulon, mayor of Arcachon, who leads the list in Gironde; Maïder Arosteguy, mayor of Biarritz, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques; Jonathan Prioleaud, mayor of Bergerac, in the Dordogne… “The health crisis has shown that if the mayors had not been on the front line, nothing would have happened”, notes Nicolas Florian, confident despite the Ipsos poll for France Bleu and France 3 published the same day, placing it at 14% of voting intentions, in 4^e position behind Alain Rousset, Edwige Diaz (RN) and Geneviève Darrieussecq. ” In 1995, he notes, Jacques Chirac was also given the loser in the presidential election … “