Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo admitted Wednesday that the prospect of France’s far-right winning power in elections at the end of the month was causing doubt and worry in the run-up to the Olympics in the French capital.
“I’m receiving many, many questions from French people, from Parisians, from people overseas who are worried about the situation in France,” Hidalgo, a Socialist in power since 2014, told reporters.
France had embodied the values of universal human rights through its history “which are very far from those successfully spread by the far-right in our country”, Hidalgo added.
The country will go to the polls on June 30 and July 7 — less than a month before the start of the Paris Games — under snap elections called by President Emmanuel Macron to widespread surprise.
The anti-immigration National Rally party of Marine Le Pen is currently leading in the polls, but analysts warn that projecting how many seats it will win in the new National Assembly remains extremely difficult.
“Yes, the far-right is at the gates of power and it carries with it hate and chaos,” Hidalgo said, before seeking to reassure listeners that Paris — where the far-right records its weakest scores — would remain a “rampart”.
“I want to say to all our friends overseas who are asking themselves questions, who are worrying about what’s happening in France, I say ‘Come, this is a place that will continue to live by the values of democracy and liberty’,” she said.
She joined widespread criticism of Macron for calling the polls on the eve of the Games, which begin on July 26.
“The president could have given the country a bit of space and attention by acknowledging that the Games could be 카지노사이트킹 a nice interlude which would give energy, confidence and hope to a lot of our citizens,” Hidalgo said.
“It’s his decision, he has the right and he will carry the responsibility,” she added.
She also announced a new date for her planned swim in the Seine, which has been cleaned up in preparation for the Games.
The river is set to host the swimming leg of the triathlon and the open-water swimming event — but it is still regularly failing pollution tests due to heavy rainfall in the capital.
Hidalgo said she would take to the water in the week of July 15, after the elections