The campaign for the early legislative elections has officially started. Candidates had until 6 p.m. this Sunday to declare their candidacy to the prefecture. There are now 33 of them running for deputy, in the four constituencies on the island. Among the eight candidates running in the second constituency of Haute-Corse, François-Xavier Ceccoli, mayor of San Giulianu and president of the Les Républicains (LR) federation of Haute-Corse, chose to run again without the inauguration of his party, adopting a position “various right”as in 2022. “This choice has become even more particular in the national context that we live in, but I wanted to remain faithful, that is to say, to offer an alternative offer”, he explains. Guest of the editorial staff of France Bleu RCFM this Monday, June 17, he notably criticized the “non-assessment of Gilles Simeoni (the current president of the Executive Council of Corsica, editor’s note), and his associates“claiming: “ Given the territorial approach, we are almost in a referendum. We must propose an alternative to this so that Corsica stops collapsing. And to do this, I am convinced, it can only be a transpartisan offer, one party can no longer exercise responsibilities alone in Corsica, this will necessarily be a collective work. I am already starting to lay the groundwork for this future ».
Two years ago, François-Xavier Ceccoli narrowly failed against Jean-Félix Acquaviva (Femu a Corsica), an outgoing nationalist deputy elected since 2017, with only 156 votes difference. Six other candidates are in the running in this election: Jean-Antoine Giacomi (Forza Nova), Sylvie Jouart-Fernandez (National Rally), Antoine Carli (Core in Fronte), Hélène Sanchez (Europe Ecology The Greens – New Popular Front), Viviane Rongione (Workers’ Struggle) and Marie-Louise Mariani (Suvranu Sovereignist Movement).
“In matters of health, a terrible territorial divide”
François-Xavier Ceccoli insists on the need to address local problems, in particular water and health. “Every year, a month before summer, we start to wonder if we are going to have water without anyone taking action. The divide in health, the Corsicans may not have noticed it, but today, there is a terrible territorial divide. You have Ajaccio with an ultra-modern public hospital, and a brand new private hospital which will open its doors, and we have an dilapidated hospital and we still wonder how long it will last.
The campaign, planned to last only three weeks, poses an obvious logistical challenge, he believes. “ If you have the instructions, I’m interested because I admit that it’s a first. Three weeks to campaign, it’s still difficult”. François-Xavier Ceccoli plans to focus on public meetings, social networks and direct contacts with voters. “I want to pass the message on to all of us who are campaigning, Please excuse us for not going to the villages this time, but we really won’t have time to survey the 190 municipalities that make up our constituency. “.
Finally, François-Xavier Ceccoli discusses the need to closely monitor the electoral process to avoid irregularities: “ Last time, we had some doubts about a lot of things. So, between doubts and proving them, there is a path that is quite long. And I did not want to further tarnish the image of our democracy by attacking this election. This time, we will try to be a little more professional and pay attention to all that.”
FIND HIS FULL PODCAST INTERVIEW:
