(International Observation) What is the chance of winning the election for the next French president of Paris in a high-profile announcement?
China News Service, Paris, September 13th, title: High-profile announcement of the chances of winning the next French president, Paris mayor?
China News Agency reporter Li Yang
Paris Mayor Anna Hidalgo officially announced her candidacy for the next French president in Rouen, a city in northwestern France on the 12th local time. After careful preparation, Hidalgo finally embarked on the road to run for president, and her campaign prospects have attracted the attention of the political circles.
Announcing that the campaign was carefully planned
Hidalgo announced that activities related to the presidential campaign have been carefully prepared. Early in the morning on the 12th, Hidalgo and his party boarded the first train from Paris to Rouen that day. A reporter from China News Agency saw at the event in Rouen that many supporters arrived early to cheer for Hidalgo.
Hidalgo chose Rouen, which is more than 100 kilometers away from Paris, as the “starting point” for her presidential campaign. Obviously, there are important considerations. Hidalgo is promoting an “ecological transformation”, and Rouen, as a traditional industrial city, is an ideal place to advocate its political ideas. At the same time, Rouen was considered by French public opinion to be a place of practice for environmentalists and socialists to co-operate to implement the “New Left” policy.
More importantly, Hidalgo announced his election for president in Rouen rather than in Paris, which gave her declaration a national significance and at the same time played down the color of Paris. Senior members of the Socialist Party to whom she belongs also came to the scene to express their support. They came from all over France. Hidalgo’s popularity has long been ahead of other political opponents in Paris, but he obviously lacks broad support at the French level. She hopes that Rouen’s activities can reverse this unfavorable situation to a certain extent.
Hidalgo intends to keep the public’s attention to her in the last few days: she further elaborated her campaign concept through the French National Television 2 on the evening of the 12th; on the 15th, she will publish a new book “Une femme fran?ais (a French woman)” “Continue to promote her political ideas; the Socialist Party Congress will be held next weekend, which may pave the way for her to be nominated as the Socialist Party presidential candidate.
Political ideas attract attention
Hidalgo’s political ideas have attracted much attention. The reporter noticed that she made a more systematic explanation of this in Rouen on the 12th. She pointed out that multiple crises have weakened France’s development model, so it is necessary to “reshape” the development model.
Hidalgo said he wants to unite the country, so he “will not evade” corresponding political responsibilities. She emphasized eco-environmental protection and said that she will work hard to create new employment opportunities in ecology and renewable energy. Some analysts believe that Hidalgo vigorously promotes the concept of eco-environmental protection, or it may be seeking to win votes from the emerging political power-the Green Party.
The 62-year-old Hidalgo was re-elected as mayor of Paris last year, showing that she still has an unshakable political foundation in Paris. Hidalgo’s environmental protection policies in Paris have caused controversy, such as laying new bicycle lanes and reducing the vehicle speed limit to 30 kilometers per hour. Whether she will promote the policies she promoted in Paris to the whole country is still uncertain, but her style of governance in Paris has left a deep impression on people and left its mark on the city of Paris.
Challenges to the campaign prospects
Despite Hidalgo’s high-profile announcement to run for president, her campaign has faced multiple challenges. The primary challenge is still its national support rate. At present, Hidalgo’s national support rate is about 7% to 9%, which is still significantly behind the current President Macron and the leader of the far-right party, Marina Le Pen. The leader of the far-left party, Melanchon, may also divide some of Hidalgo’s approval ratings.
Secondly, there will be more and more people participating in the presidential election next year. Political figures from multiple camps and factions will appear one after another, and the uncertainty of the election may increase. While Hidalgo was in Rouen, Marina Le Pen was also holding a political rally; Pequeres, another Paris regional council chairperson who had announced her candidacy for president, spoke through a TV talk show.
The third is the challenge posed by the prospects of the socialist camp. The Socialist presidential candidate lost a disastrous defeat in the 2017 presidential election, with only 6.4% of the votes in the first round, ranking fifth among all candidates. In 2012, Hollande was elected president by defeating Sarkozy with 51.6% of the votes as a candidate for president of the Socialist Party. Whether the socialist camp can withstand the test of next year’s election campaign, the extent to which it can support Hidalgo, and the extent to which Hidalgo can unite with the left-wing camp is still unknown. (over)
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