In Paris, the victory of Anne Hidalgo, the rout of Agnes Buzyn

LAURENCE GEAI FOR “THE WORLD”

– By Denis Cosnard

Posted today at 06:31 am, updated at 07:16 am

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It is 9 pm this Sunday evening June 28, and suddenly, the first estimates fall on the screen lit in the huge office of Anne Hidalgo, where she gathered her team: the socialist mayor of Paris is re-elected. And hands down, with almost 49% of the vote, while Rachida Dati (Les Républicains, LR) must be content with less than 34%, and Agnès Buzyn (La République en Marche, LRM) by 13%. Applause bursts out. The office is filled with worshipers, fellow travelers. Anne Hidalgo gives everyone a hug.

Until the last day, she who is so superstitious had not wanted to declare victory. Now a few tears are falling. At the end of this long campaign, “I think of my father”, died in March 2019, confides the mayor a few minutes later in front of his supporters gathered on the forecourt of the Town Hall. “Arrived in France with the Republic in ideal, he wanted his daughters to realize it. I think he would be happy today. ”

On the other side of the Seine, at the headquarters of La République en Marche (LRM), Boulevard du Montparnasse, the atmosphere is quite different. Sepulchral. A year and a half earlier, the presidential party imagined bringing down Anne Hidalgo like a ripe fruit. But this June 28, the results which are arriving little by little turn out to be even more catastrophic than the last forecasts, and the pizzas are struggling to pass.

Agnes Buzyn herself only collects a pitiful 13% of the votes in the 17^e, the district where it was presented. Not only was she not elected mayor, but she did not even sit on the Paris Council. She who, a few days earlier, saw herself at least directing opposition to Anne Hidalgo, and replacing her at the end of her mandate, in 2026 … Her spokesperson Gaspard Gantzer, former adviser to François Hollande, is also eliminated. As well as the outgoing mayor of 20^e, Frédérique Calandra, an ex-socialist passed to LRM. In front of the cameras, the former Minister of Health “Take note” results and says to himself “Proud to have carried the voice of the presidential majority”. At his side, his lieutenants have burial mines.

Crazy election, incredible succession of twists and turns

A huge victory for Anne Hidalgo, a gigantic rout for Agnès Buzyn, and, for Rachida Dati, a relative failure that leaves a lot of hope. After an incredible succession of twists and turns, the mad Parisian municipal election resulted in the opposite result to that predicted by many when the pre-campaign started.

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