“The President of the Republic invented the electoral sprint, it is to him that we owe the pleasure of meeting this evening”. It is with the ironic tone that characterizes him that the mayor ofAjaccio Stéphane Sbraggia opened Thursday evening the meeting of the outgoing deputy. The “base” of the Marcangeli camp had responded to the call launched by his campaign team. Many allies were present, in the front row: Senator Jean-Jacques Panunzi, several mayors of the constituency including François Faggianelli, mayor of Appietto, Paul François Pomponi, mayor of Rezza, Xavier Luciani, mayor of Renno, Jean-Marie Pasqualaggi , mayor of Tavaco, Pascal Miniconi, mayor of Afa as well as elected officials from the Un Soffiu Novu group (Angèle Chiappini, Georges Mela, Jean-Michel Savelli, Charlotte Terrighi, Cathy Cognetti).
The names of two absentees were greeted and warmly applauded by the audience: Antoine Maestrali and Stéphane Vannucci, both temporarily banned from contact with the elected representatives of Capa due to judicial control. “We miss their good nature and their energy, deplores the mayor of Ajaccio. NWe think of them, we cannot act as if nothing happened.”
“Restoring politics’ nobility”
Xavier Lacombe, mayor of Peri and deputy of Laurent Marcangeli, gave the meeting the air of a territorial campaign, castigating the remarks made against him by Gilles Simeoni: “I heard that on the Cours Napoléon, where he was walking to support his candidate whose name I will not mention, he mentioned my opposition in the territorial hemicycle and at the Corsican energy union. But I I tell the truth and he lies, the CdC owes our institution 11 million euros!”.
This quick settling of scores gave way to the presentation of Laurent Marcangeli’s qualities: “At a time when debates are often aggressive, social networks hateful, society fractured, he is a deputy who counts, competent and courageous and who has always demonstrated consensus”according to Stéphane Sbraggia, “a man who restores the nobility of politics”for Xavier Lacombe.
Laurent Marcangeli appeared serene, devoid of any aggressiveness – he did not cite any of his adversaries, not even Romain Colonna who criticizes him for belonging “to Macronie” -, matured by two years spent at the head of the presidency of the Horizons group at the Palais Bourbon. “Never since the beginning of the Fifth Republic have we experienced such moments of confusion and upheaval, he worries, radicalities (RN and LFI, editor’s note) take up a lot of space today. The National Assembly that I knew in 2012 was no longer the same in 2022: I discovered noise and fury, vulgar behavior, an absence of nuance.”
The outgoing MP, who confides having done everything to “make proud” his constituency, promises to always “remain worthy” and to continue working. He recalls his record: rapporteur of the parliamentary commission charged with investigating the assassination of Yvan Colonna (report unanimously validated) – “I wanted to make people understand what Corsica was experiencing” -, rapporteur of the law adopted unanimously to establish a digital majority and aimed at combating online hatred – “a law to protect our children”. He declares : “I may be a political opponent (allusion to Gilles Simeoni’s comments about him, editor’s note), but when it comes to working for Corsica, for me there is no political party, there is no clan, no camp, I work for the interest of Corsica”making tacit reference here (perhaps so as not to upset certain guests such as Jean-Jacques Panunzi) to his role as facilitator in the Beauvau process.
If the political debate is today dispassionate on the island, while tensions are very high in places during this lightning campaign, Laurent Marcangeli believes “having contributed one’s part”.
Authority, education and youth
To an established audience, he promises to work to restore authority and order: “Those who do wrong and those who have nothing to do on the national territory must be punished”.
To those who consider that he right-wing his speech during the campaign, he responds that during the past two years, “he was not lax in matters of authority”and refers to his positions during the debate on the immigration law. Education and youth are also among his priorities, as is the creation of a university hospital in Corsica which was about to be voted on in the National Assembly or the extension of the Miot decrees.
“I am ready and determined to represent you proudly and with dignity, to make the voice of the Corsicans heard beyond political arrangements, to contribute to building a better world for our children and to build together a united Corsica”concluded Laurent Marcangeli, to thunderous applause
