PCF returns to Antibes: Communists call for left-wing unity for municipal elections

It wasn't a campaign launch for the municipal elections, but it won't be long.

This Friday evening, around 80 communists and supporters of the left and ecology gathered at the Fort-Carré space in Antibes for the political start of the Antibes and Casa section (Sophia Antipolis urban community) of the French Communist Party (PCF).

Among the forces present, Michèle Muratore, elected opposition member for the Socialist Party in Antibes, but also activists from La France Insoumise (LFI), the Ecologists and the Republican and Socialist Left.

The message is clear. "We have not always been together, but today we are united and we will meet very soon to discuss the municipal elections," announced Denis La Spesa, secretary of the PCF Antibes.

Who states without reservation: "Antibes is our target. We're not going to take the city right away, we have to be patient, but Michèle Muratore is alone in the opposition. We hope to be able to increase the number of elected officials to five, or even more. I can tell you that out of the 49 municipal councilors, we could make things happen because the other 39 who are part of the majority, apart from the mayor and a few deputies, are there to fill the seats."

Regarding the National Rally elected officials who currently sit on the municipal council, Denis Le Spesa is no more lenient: "They are non-existent except for sticking, most of the time, to the mayor's decisions."

A list in Biot in preparation

Another town in the line of fire: Biot. "We certainly have the opportunity to do something in Biot, too. By tapping a few activists, we could make a list. We're working on it."

As for the other towns in the Sophia Antipolis urban community, the PCF "doesn't rule anything out: if a list identifies with our genes, we could join," assures the local secretary. LFI supporters have seized the opportunity: "Our leaders are ready to meet with you."

Invited for the occasion, the departmental secretary of the PCF, Julien Picot, set the tone for the campaign: "In our region, we are facing an ultra-reactionary right that is ashamed of nothing. The cases follow one after the other: opaque contracts, investigations into favoritism, disastrous management, particularly in the valleys... Always the same profiteers and the inhabitants are the losers."

According to him, "what is happening here is also happening at the national level with Bayrou's power play, which is imposing a social war budget: 44 billion in savings at the expense of the people!"