Paris has ‘cut itself off’ from France, Macron’s mayoral candidate warns
Paris: Emmanuel Macron’s candidate for mayor of Paris, Benjamin Griveaux, warned Thursday that the French capital had become dangerously disconnected from the rest of the country and needed to do more to halt a middle-class exodus.
On the eve of Britain’s departure from the EU, the 42-year-old Macron loyalist hoping to oust Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo in March elections compared Paris to anti-Brexit London.
Noting the “absolute divide” between London, which voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, and many parts of the country which voted to leave, Griveaux argued that Paris too had become a wealthy bubble.
“Little by little Paris has become disconnected from the rest of the country, and it’s not just since Macron or Hidalgo,” Griveaux, who trails in third place behind Hidalgo and a conservative candidate according to recent polls, told the Anglo-American Press Association of Paris.
“This capital, which was shaped by people from all parts of the country, has cut itself off from the countryside,” the centrist who hails from a village in eastern France said.
That was “not a good sign,” he added.
Polls show the former government spokesman, who helped found Macron’s Republic on the Move (LREM) party, failing to topple the unpopular Hidalgo, even though Macron swept Paris in the 2017 presidential election.
Wresting control of the capital would be a huge prize for Macron as he seeks to consolidate his base ahead of an expected re-election bid in 2022.
It would also help offset heavy losses he is expected to face in rural areas, where his policies have met fierce resistance and fired up the “yellow vest” protest movement.
But a fratricidal fight between Griveaux and a dissident candidate from Macron’s party, star mathematician Cedric Villani, has split the party’s support in Paris. - AFP