Election in Paris

Well, decision day approaches. On Sunday March 15 the people of Paris will vote in the first round of an election for Mayor of Paris - along with many other local government elections across the country. 

In France, although the voter cannot allocate preferences in the Australian style, the election is held in two rounds. In the second round, the following week, most candidates are eliminated, and the two leading candidates contest the election, as explained.

As a result, Anne Hidalgo, the current mayor may be re-elected, though in the second round. Hidalgo was born in southern Spain sixty years ago and is a dual French-Spanish citizen. She has been mayor since 2014, and is supported by the socialists (PS), communists (PCF), and various centrists and independents, with 23% support in the January opinion poll. There is a nice article  about her in The Guardian.

The main competition seems is from Les Républicains (LR), the centre-right opposition. Their candidate, Rachida Dati, was a minister under Sarkozy and she is the current mayor of the 7th arrondissement. France24 suggests that she is a strong challenger.

The governing party, La France En Marche (LFEM), the party of the President, Emmanuel Macron nominated Benjamin Griveaux (16%) as its candidate. When he resigned as candidate in late January over a sex video, he was replaced by Agnès Buzyn a doctor and formerly Minister of Health in the national government.

The flamboyant Cédric Villani, a dissident member of the President's party, is a distinguished mathematician and winner of the Fields Medal in 2010, but his vote has slipped in recent polls, as the field as narrowed. However, he is also greenish in colour, and was a strong supporter of Hidalgo in 2014 when she was elected.

Europe Ecologie Les Verts (EELV) has nominated David Belliard, who wants to free Paris from the car. Like that of Villani, Bellisrad's support has recently fallen, as many of his supporters appear to have transferred their allegiance to Hidalgo, who also has a strong environmental element in her program and wants to pedestrianise the city centre, among other things.

There are three other candidates. Aimer Paris (To Love Paris) has as candidate Serge Federbusch, who is supported by the extreme right Rassemblement National (RN). Libenons Paris is the party of Marcel Campion, who owns the Paris ferris wheel, and has had a long career in Paris carnival. Décidons Paris is a list headed by Danielle Simonnet, of the left.

Recent comment following the resignation of the Macron (LFEM) candidate has suggested that the main challenger to the long hegemony of the socialists (PS) - since the mayoralty of Jacques Chirac from 1977-1995 - is Rachida Dati of the PR. Dati is a high profile former minister under Nicolas Sarkozy and is waging a strong campaign. France24 summarises the situation close to the end of the campaign.

So for whom should we vote? My decision is clear, although unfortunately I am without the right to vote. Not only was David Belliard born on the same date as I was (although 31 years later), but he supports the reduction of cars in Paris - the pedestrian candidate par excellence. Bonne chance, David.