Since his triumphant election as mayor of Nice two months ago, everything seemed to be going well for Eric Ciotti. With effective communication, well-received signs of openness and the first of popular economies, the new mayor had until now succeeded in reassuring the most skeptical. On the TV sets of national news channels, the president of the UDR could put his Nice laboratory in the window and repeat that he would do for France what he did for his city. A certain guarantee of credibility for a mayor allied to the extreme right.
The loss of the ice events of the 2030 Olympic Games therefore constitutes the first hiccup of his mandate. Resounding. A severe setback. If the decision is confirmed, public opinion will hold that Christian Estrosi won the Olympics and that Eric Ciotti lost them. At the national level, political commentators will conclude that a mayor allied to the extreme right has frightened the Olympic authorities.
In truth, both the former mayor and the current one made the mistake of politicizing this issue. The first by seeking to capitalize on the Olympic promise during the municipal campaign, the second by criticizing the cost of investments and refusing any prolonged use of the Allianz Riviera.
The fierce debate did not please the International Olympic Committee. The negotiations undertaken in a detestable atmosphere with Renaud Muselier and the South Region, the day after the elections, did not really reassure. A textbook case of the worst that politics can produce.
