Jean-Luc Rotureau's candidacy for Angers mayor office may redistribute cards

It was the ultimate moment. Just on the eve of summer break, Jean-Luc Rotureau announced he will run for Angers mayor office at the next municipal elections planned in April 2014. He said in city's medias he had thoroughly made up his mind since he published his book "Autrement" on spring. If it was not a secret Mr Rotureau never admitted the way Jean-Claude Antonini, former Angers mayor, left office and it looks this is the reason he will be candidate, rather than a rivalvry with Frédéric Béatse, present Angers mayor.

Nevertheless, this will complicate the outlook for the majority of city council. Inevitably, Mr Rotureau will have to draw a project distinctive of Mr Béatse's one. What could be the difference between them and who is going to follow Mr Rotureau in his attempt are some of the questions his candidacy will raise. One of the differences between the two men is the importance they will give to economy versus social during the next six years starting in 2014.

If it is unlikely Jean-Luc Rotureau (left) will do an alliance with Christophe Béchu, himself candidate for the conservative side, Mr Rotureau's candidacy is something more interesting for Mr Béchu rather than Mr Béatse what could lead that last to settle an alliance with the Centrists. Mr Rotureau targeted Jean-Claude Antonini but he could hit Mr Béatse.

New surprise on the site where Richard III remains have been found one year ago

The place where, one year ago, the remains of the last Plantagenet king of England, Richard III, have been found, has still surprise in store. British archeologists recently found, a few meters further, a stone coffin which contained another one, made of lead. That second coffin has not been opened yet and the team is wondering what it could include.

After the summer 2012 discovery, analysis have confirmed that the body unveiled under a car park of Leicester was in fact Richard III, died during the battle of Bosworth in 1485. Richard III was killed by the first king Tudor, Henry VII. His death marked the end of the Roses War.

Archeologists believe the coffins would contain the skeleton of a monk founder of the Greyfriars Church, later destroyed and replaced by a mansion itself teared down. It is said that king Richard III, depicted by Shakespeare, will be buried in Leicester cathedral for its definitive rest. [Credit pictures : Richard III society and Wikipedia]

More than 20 English speaking medias dedicated coverages about the remarks of the Cholet mayor regarding Roman population

A lot of US and UK medias dedicated coverages about the remarks expressed by the mayor of Cholet, the second city of Maine-et-Loire, regarding the fate Gypsies should have deserved from Hitler. More than twenty English speaking medias print and web reported the case. In most of the news, those medias notice that Gilles Bourdouleix now faces political sanction and prosecution after he said about Gypsies who welcomed him mimicking Nazi salutes : "Maybe Hitler didn't kill enough of them".

In US, Fox News, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune are edited reports on the case. In UK and Ireland, the Daily Telegraph, the BBC and the Irish Times did the same. Most of them point out that a person found guilty of defending crimes against humanity can face up to 45,000 euros ($59,500) in fines, a year in jail, or both. Others details the Cholet mayor is under the fire of the UDI, a political party he could be expulsed.

Others recall Cholet is not far from Montreuil-Bellay, an Eastern city of Maine-et-Loire, which hosted a internment camp for Roman populations until 1946. In the Chicago Sun, the town of Cholet is located near Nantes, what, given the circumstances, is not necessarily, a damage for Angers.

Palma and Angers cities "assault" their inner fortresses

Every city, which has an historical monument within its limits, is trying to enlive it in order to attract tourists. That is the common situation of Angers Palma de Mallorca where castles are part of the urban landscapes. In the Spanish city, the San Carlos fortress is located on a hill at the entrance of the first Palma harbour. Free from military use since years, the monument built in the XVIth century has recently opened its doors to private business.

In Palma (as in Angers castle), visitors can now take a drink inside the walls which also shelter museums partly dedicated to the Napoleonian occupation of Spain during the beginning of the XIXth century. In the San Carlos, the most highest part of the fortress may be rent for private or professionnals meetings and guests or customers may enjoy the most privilegied view around the city and its bay.

If in Angers, a restaurant has opened inside the castle, it is, until now, impossible to organize events in the most valuable places of the monument. The terrace of its highest tower which dominates the Maine and its rivers (once redevelopped) or the walk where, formerly, soldiers monitored the arrival of possible ennemies or boats, are only accessible for visitors. And the giant hall above the cliff is, since decades, in ruins.

The Angers city council got from the French state free access to the castle for Angers inhabitants (the access is also free in the San Carlos) what is a first step. The next move for Angers city would consist in getting from French state more varied uses ot its castle.
But in France, administration is also a fortress.

Black October after the next removal of Angers electronic billboards

Twelve of the 14 electronic billboards set up less than a year in Angers down town will have to be removed until October 1st. That order was given to the JCDecaux company by an Angers district attorney, after himself received complains of the Historical Monuments Department and the Association pour la sauvegarde de l'Anjou. According to those authorities, the 12 billboards were located near historical monuments what is forbidden by law.

If, at the same time, those billboards brought animation in down town, the colours they used were quite gaudy and it is quite surprising ads in down towns, printed or electronic, may use all the colours they want, while, at the same time, real estate owners must respect regulations regarding the colours of their walls or their windows... But, an inconvenient will come from that decision in the next months.

For economic and environmental reasons, Angers city has decided to save up energy (and money) regarding the lighting of the streets by night. One out of two street lights are running during nocturnal periods. The Decaux electronic billboards brought light in the locations they were set up. What is going to replace that after October 1st while state has already planned restrictions to lights during nights? Security is a priority for nocturnal pedestrians.

One year after Technicolor closure, Angers goes on the offensive in electronic

The Angers electronic campus' sponsors

One year after the closure of Technicolor, formerly Thomson, Angers has displayed a new project for the local electronic sector. Technicolor was set up in Angers in the 50's and was due to close its doors last october. That event created a huge emotion in Angers which is trying to keep an electronic activity on the former site of Technicolor. With the implementation of an electronic campus from next september near the Ecole supérieure d'électronique de l'Ouest, the city and Angers Loire Métropole look to adopt a more offensive policy.

Such a campus "will make more visible the size and the excellence of the French electronic sector and to give it more attractiveness and competitiveness in order to win market shares and to produce in France", said Paul Raguin, the manager of Loire Electronic Applications Valley, a professionnal community gathering companies and higher education institutes of the Pays de la Loire region.

But Angers Loire Métropole and Loire Electronic Applications Valley want to go further. Through a plaform, the local  and Western France electronic companies will be able to closely work with students, engineers, teachers and researchers of the electronic field in order to device new industrial process and may be products. And, in 2016, a building dedicated to the electronic sector will be erected in the Haut de Saint-Aubin district and will be a showroom for French and foreign purchasers.

Angers "Heatathlon"

The main difficulty of the Angers Triathlon which took place in La Rochefoucauld square on July 20th had for main difficulty the heat. With temperatures Angers didn't faced since a long time, the first part of the trial was surely not the worst : the Maine temperature was 26°. Given that level, the competitors were forbidden to wear swimming suit. "The start in the river didn't pose any problem", reminds Percy who finished with his brother James in the first thirty swimmers after 750 m.

Credit French  Federation of Triathlon

Then started three loops of 21 kms by bike throughout Angers. "The real difficulty was there because that part of the trial makes the difference between the members and the no members of a triathlon club : some competitors have ultra light bikes and others unfitted bicycles for such a trial. The fighting spirit is difficult to maintain when you loose untill 200 ranks during that part".

The trial finished with a 5 km run. "We felt as if the heat had doubled because we had no wind coming from the speed on bikes. Hopefully the organizers had added one restock more and above all some people have had the good idea to refresh the runners with hosepipes". Nevertheless "we had many difficulties to find again a good pace for the foot run after the cycle run", says Percy. With the finish line comes the moment of glory, the speaker giving the names of those who ended their run. After that, they had moments to do the Angers triathlon again, but, that time, only in their mind...

While Angers implemented the tramway, Palma had to give up its "Tranvia"

The Angers inhabitants who love their tramway must be satisfied. In spite of the economic crisis which hit, and still badly affect, financial balances of many cities from 2008, Angers succeeded to keep its tramway scheme on its tracks and even is working on a second line. That was not the case of Palma de Mallorca which even never had the opportunity to think about a second line because the first was  purely and solely given up.

Called the "Tranvia", the tramway was due to connect Palma down town (400 000 inhabitants) to the city airport, the third of Spain, then to all the beaches of the East side, and had, in those conditions, good perspective of affluence. The works were due to start in 2011 for a completion in 2013. The estimated cost was around € 200 millions. And after that first line, a second was planned towards West coast.

All these projects have been buried and the inhabitants use still buses. But the conditions of travelling are in Palma very different than those of Angers because on the Mallorca capital, buses do not have always specific lanes then can't go faster than cars. That situation, which slowers the traffic, has moreover something bad for travellers. Buses are air-conditionned. In summer, it is sometime hard to to change from an icy atmosphere to an overheated air. Tourists are never happy!

In Palma as in Angers, the bike is far to be the king

Even if Angers knew one of its most hottest summer for years with local temperatures over 30°, the first impression the Angevins having just landed in Palma de Mallorca is surely the heat. The  Balearic thermometer is over 36° and the humidity is not only a feeling. So one of the best way to travel throughout the capital of Mallorca is the bike. Only cycling by the "paséos" or the "avenidas" gives to the travellers the (relatively) fresh air they desperately need.


Beyond understanding, cycling is not yet a very common way of travel for Palma inhabitants. The red of cyclable lanes is very uneven : some parts are absolutely secure while others are deprived of the minimum standards a cyclable lane must have. But bikers and pedestrians are equally treated and frequently gathered on pedestrians crossings for security reasons. So, the red and green warning lights display the symbols for pedestrians and cyclists. The cars are still the kings of the streets and Palma drivers are often impatient behind a bicycle and toots are frequently used by people who probably never use a bike.

The Palma town hall has set up years ago a network of bikes for rent. The device is opened to registered inhabitants who can get a machine in one station and park it in another one after use. But the system is working only from 6 am to 11pm. Every user has to pay a subscription to get access to the service, then another fare depending on the lenght of time he will use the bike. In time of economic crisis, the city doesn't grant any gift.

Touch down in Palma from Angers

Angers has experienced for the first time a direct connection to Palma de Mallorca. The line, run by Air Nostrum, a subsidiary of Iberia, the Spanish national company, is working from July 11th until August 22nd. Stayings including flight and hotel are for sale from € 300 approximatively. But what the Angers travellers will discover after a 90 mn flight? First an airport which, in size, has few similarities with Angers Marcé.


Also known as Son Sant Joan Airport, the Palma airoport is the third largest in Spain after those of Madrid and Barcelona. It is during the summer months that the facility is the most busy : more than 22 millions passengers used it in 2011, most of them came or moved to Spain mainland and Germany.

Credit Pictures : Wikipedia

The first impression of an Angers traveller is the heat which dominates the island. If the capital of Anjou is facing the highest temperatures of the year, such levels are common in Mallorca. The climate of that island is Mediterranean with mild and stormy winters and bright and hot summers. That is "higly" visible from planes in approach to Palma. The mountainous relief which embraces first the view of passengers leaves room to burnt landscapes. The green aspects of Anjou
fields are already far.

Dramatic increase of unemployment in Angers area in a single year

The latest news about unemployment figures in Angers area are not encouraging. According to the local Maison de l'emploi, there is a dramatic increase of unemployed people whose number on May 31st - around 24 000 jobless persons are registered in the 33 cities and villages members of Angers Loire Métropole - is now higher by 13% compared to the previous year. The trend of persons immediately available for a job is even more dramatic because it soared by 16% in a single year. And things are even worse for inhabitants of Alm without job for more than a year : their number has exploded by 27%.

Credit : Angers Developpement

According to local medias, these results are "very bad" and their evolution is "catastrophic". Even if the rate of unemployed person
s in Angers is still lower than the national rate (10.1% vs. 10.2%), the margin is narrowing month after month
what will make of that issue one of the most important stakes of next municipal elections planned in spring 2014 and the fierciest adversary of the main contenders, Frédéric Béatse (socialist) and Christophe Béchu (conservatory).

These, as well as all the other candidates, can only set up a favourable environment for private companies leading these to recruit. Here the ways may diverge. Some policies may focus on facilities for inhabitants or for companies (or both). Others may emphasize the competitiveness of local companies through lower lower charges. Both means are conceivable but they will not make disappear on short range one of the main worries of voters who ask themselves : who is next?

The Maine between fair work and fireworks

According to local medias, numerous Angers inhabitants watched the fireworks of July 14th set up on the Maine banks. Another fair work took place along those river sides at the end of June due to a group of inhabitants who, every year, tries to make that place a little bit cleaner. If the number of volunteers looks to increase year after year (as well the quantity of wastes) for that "citizen initiative" they were nevertheless far less numerous than the passers-by of the National Day.

In his monthly chat on July 9th, Frédéric Béatse, Angers mayor, payed tribute to that idea even if the quantity and the diversity of wastes he found in the place he had to clean up was "a bad surprise". That made him aware about the absence of  care some  inhabitants had of environment and led him to ad "we shall have opportunities to talk about that later"...

That episode demonstrates that the implementation of the New Banks scheme should be enforced by an education of people about the environment of the Maine. What, given the discoveries that occured, would be a little revolution.

From Anjou Velo Vintage to "Back to the 30's" : past as future in Angers and Anjou

From left or right, some local initiatives look to coincide in reminding to Angers and Anjou inhabitants the appeal of what daily life was in that region somes decades ago. At the end of June, Anjou Vélo Vintage invited lovers of old bikes to travel along the Loire banks between Angers and Saumur in an atmosphere coming from the pre-war period. Anjou Vélo Vintage "that astonishing time machine", set up by the Conseil général de Maine-et-Loire (right), is followed that National Day July 14th by a similar idea coming from Angers city council (left), which will take place in the Saint-Aubin island where Angers inhabitants are invited to "a jump in the past".

Of course, these authorities and their representatives are not obssesed by the past and dedicate a lot of time and resources to create a favourable environment for Angers and Anjou inhabitants but that unofficial convergence questions and at least, reflects a large worry of French opinion what The New York Times recently illustrated. Angers and Anjou people are wondering on themselves and their country. The event of July 14th "will be an opportunity for participants to wonder about the advantages of modernity... and to wonder about the impact of modernization on our ways of consumption and on environment", writes the Angers city website.

But, until the French National Day 2013, traditions are living in Angers and even in advance on general uses. Between the 13th and the 14th, bars and cafes will have the right to stay opened all night long! That's unique in a year. Maybe that is predicting similar authorizations for all stores in Angers for End of Year holidays! A true jump into the future!

Uncertainties about the route and the financing plan of the second trolley line due to run before 2020

Uncertainties (circles) for the route - Credit ALM

The Angers Loire development board has set date for the second tramway line given that the government will wait schemes until September 15th. For that project, the authority wishes to get about € 44 millions in allocations to finance part of the final cost : € 289 millions without the passengers cars. But "at once, we don't have the means to finance the whole line", pointed out Jean-Claude Antonini, president of the board who didn't rule out the idea to realize the scheme in two steps.

Even if Mr Antonini didn't disclosed what step would be first : one can guess that the first would be the connection between Beaucouzé and Angers down town because there are no uncertainties about that route. It is not the case of the second half between Angers down town and Saint-Sylvain d'Anjou because the route has yet to be choosen between Gain or Montaîgne streets but, above all, regarding the way out after Monplaisir district.

Surveys are presently on course regarding the definitive route and those, once completed, would help Alm board to make up its mind after the municipal elections of next year. The works would have to start between 2016. In the months to come, a wide consultation will be implemented in order to collect ideas and opinions. Given the chances of a work in successive steps, fights between districts for getting the line could be tough. So it's clever to decide after the elections.

Inao bureau : union of Angers decision-makers has finally paid off

The common stance of the Angers and Anjou decision-makers has been awar
ded. The Angers bureau of the Institut national des appellations d'origine (Inao) which was due to teave the city for another destination will finally stay there and will even be strenghtened. A few weeks ago, that national autorithy in charge of the regulation of French agricultural products through protected designations of origins, planned to close its Angers bureau for organizational matters.

That perspective had triggered an opposition coming from all the components of the political spectrum of Anjou, allying Christophe Béchu (right) and Frédéric Béatse (left), likely contenders of the next municipal elections in 2014. Finally, the Inao board not only cancelled its first idea but even choose to transfer from Vertou (Loire-Atlantique) a team of engineers who will probalby double the number of the employees located in Angers. A departure would have been worrying for all the sponsors of the vegetable mission of Angers.

For Mr Béchu, "the arguments I have supported have won the choice". "Such a decision will strenghen the national and international role of Angers in the vegetable through reseach centres and higher education as well as economic actors of that sector", said Mr. Béatse who, as Angers mayor, is now due to find a larger facility for the reinforced Angers Inao's team.

Attractiveness and comfort : a difficult but necessary alliance for Angers

The renunciation to a new congress centre, one of the most important components of the New Banks scheme, was probably a difficult choice for Frédéric Béatse, Angers mayor. It is not sure the anticipated implementation of a second tramway line between Beaucouzé and Saint-Sylvan d'Anjou between 2020 will  counterbalance that give-up.

The Maine et Loire chamber of commerce had already deplored that choice and suggested a relocation of the congress centre, designed to enhance Angers attractiveness for business tourists, near the Angers railway station. That situation illustrates the arbitrations Angers city, and many other towns, will have to face for financial constraints and the different analysis between territorial authorities.


Some want to give priority to projects aiming at the external attractiveness of Angers city. Others rather push schemes designed to improve daily life of inhabitants. But, in the long range, it is possible that the two categories may, at the same time, give attractiveness and comfort. So the art consists in their clever dosages in the short range.

Angers Loire Métropole affirms its economic ambitions

Ten thousands new jobs in five years are still the will of Angers Loire Métropole, the territorial authority gathering nearly thirty cities and villages around Angers. That was what the president of Alm, Jean-Claude Antonini, repeated in front of abo
ut 150 structures involved in the economic development of the area. That goal, expressed in a plan drafted by the mayors of the members of Alm last year, is ambitious and, given the economic and social circumstances in which the Angers region evolved during the last twelve months, must be supported by a lot of public and private actors, what Mr Antonini knows.

So, before the summer break, an appeal to the rallying of energies was not useless. If Mr Antonini had some good news (the hiring of 60 temporary workers by Scania, the arrival of a Danish factory subsidiary of Kolmi, that one already located near Angers, the continuous development of Evolis or the expansion of the Spanish Coexpan), others were probably in the mind of the audience like the disappearance of Angers Technicolor and, during the last twelve months, the increase of unemployment whose rate is now very close to the national level. The arrival of one or two laboratories dedicated to the vegetable products is predicted but the departure of the Institut national des appellations d'origine Angers bureau is still possible...

Of course, the president of an authority in charge of the economic issues does his business when he stimulates ambitions and trust. Some facilities, like the railway line Angers-Paris improvement which may help to give more attrativeness to Alm area, are surely necessaries. But, in the same time, the authority should consider the level of charges already paid directly by the companies and indirectly by employees. The announcement of a second tramway line is probably a good news for thousands of inhabitants. But, in the same time, costs of investments are not decreasing. While the line A cost € 320 million and the B 289 millions, the first included all the maintenance centre, not the second.

Half tramway line : total ineptness

The track towards the second line

The Angers municipal campaign which will accelerate after the end of summer holidays could generate a lot of projects for the city development, some more serious, others less. An original idea which could be part of that last category has recently appeared. It came from the town centrist movement regarding the second trolley line the mayor has recently revived. According to the centrist party members, the most appropriate thing, given the economic circumstances, to do would consist in a half tramway line!

Belle-Beille campus

If it was said first that a new line could not be implemented before 2020, the planning has recently be shortened by the mayor : the project could be launched before. But nothing new has been said regarding the route it will follow linking the Belle-Beille and Monplaisir districts through down town.  According to the centrists, a half line would be sufficient. But wich part of that line : Belle-Beille- down town or Monplaisir-down town?

Monplaisir distric

The two districts claim they need a tramway connection to Angers centre. Belle-Beille hosts thousands of students who need such a facility and Monplaisir recalls it has not yet taken benefit of the urban schemes which modernized other city districts So the solution the centrists encourage will let half of the inhabitants potential beneficiairies of the second line with a bit of anger for the loosers and it is not sure half a project would decrease the costs by 50%. They didn't say how they would explain their choice to those who would not get the facility... 

And it is likely the few companies able to build the new line would rather work on larger schemes outside Angers. So how can such an idea see light? Maybe the heat?

Anjou Velo Vintage, a retro pedal-power foreigners love

If Angers and Anjou inhabitants believed that Anjou Vélo Vintage (AVV) was an isolated initiative dedicated to a transportation mode formerly called "La petite reine" (The little queen), they discovered, thanks to the Financial Times (FT), a UK world famous economic daily newspaper, that was not the case. But, if similar events take place outside France every year, it's the AVV which attracts the most important number of cyclists, and from many European countries. But what are these people looking for? 

According to the FT, they are pursuing a dream : a quick but intense immersion in the French atmosphere before the globalized world. All the pictures shot during AVV are true symbols of an era : cocktail of picnics, accordion's notes and of course, wine are ever-present. But if those symbols are more visible for foreigners, they look to be still very attractive for native participants, maybe nostalgic of a golden age vanished for ever.

Some of the French members of the "peloton", the FT editor Tim Moore interviewed didn't hide said it was good to revive the days before stagnation. One of the additional sorrows French readers of the FT will have is the relative disinterest of French for old bikes whom France was the craddle, while abroad foreign people still pay respect to "La petite reine".

Christophe Béchu makes official his candidacy to Angers mayor office

Chritophe Béchu

If there is suspense about who will be with Frédéric Béatse, current Angers mayor and candidate for a new term, there is also some uncertainty about the persons his challenger, Christophe Béchu, current president of the Conseil général de Maine-et-Loire, will rally for the 2014 municipal elections. A series of events could have prompted this one to announce, maybe in advance on his initial agenda, that he will stand for the office of Angers mayor next year.

Laurent Gérault

It the "Appel des Angevins pour le changement", a community favourable to Mr Béchu's candidacy, has gathered hundreds of supports, some of the post prominent members of the municipal opposition, would not be part of that list. Recently, one of the opposition town councillors, Laurent Gérault, expressed his anger after one of his close aides, choose to support Christophe Béchu and qualified that departure of "treason". That fact will not be helpful to restore friendship between Mr Gérault and Mr Béchu. Both said that they will compete for Angers mayor office without the support of the other.

Regarding an alliance with Jean-Luc Rotureau, current Angers deputy mayor, the challenger of Frédéric Béatse said such a scheme had not been offered to Mr Rotureau, but added that "it was not be intellectually unimaginable". Mr Rotureau will have all the summer to think about it.

The temporary Ralliement garden, fruit of discord

Mrs Fel

The judgement of the opposition inside the Angers city council about the vegetable settings of Ralliement square has not been said with flowers!  According to Caroline Fel and Gilles Groussard, the temporary garden arranged in that place only points out the "complete failure" of the Ralliement plan which is a too mineral place. "Since two years, we request that the square, so mineral, be redevelopped, to highlight the buildings around, especially the Grand Théâtre, with vegetables, label of the Angers identity", they said.


If those do not blame the idea per se, they think its imple-mentation demonstrates that the Ralliement desperately lacks flowers, shrubs or trees. "The summer attempt reveals that the idea is good and finally shared by the Angers city council majority, even if the achievement is still humble, in spite of the quality of the work".

Mr Groussard

The temporary garden was an opportunity fo them to sow discord. "Nine months before the municipal elections, one may ask if the mayor candidate planned to include these expenses in his electoral budget", question Mrs Fel and Mr Groussard. If their analysis about the cold atmosphere of the Ralliement looks to coincide with some Angers inhabitants'opinion, their project could only be, for financial reasons, an adjustment.

Jean-Luc Rotureau sets date

He was silent since the last months. But, after the meetings the main leaders or their supporters organized recently as warm-up laps, Jean-Luc Rotureau could not longer stay mute. So, regarding his possible candidacy for the mayor's office, he just set date : "I shall announce my decision after the summer holidays. I'll do what I believe to be fair. I have to measure the collective forces which goes beyond the parties", he said to the daily Ouest-France.

Credit picture:  www.rotureau.fr

During the lastest weeks, Frédéric Béatse, Angers mayor, and Christophe Béchu, president of the Conseil général de Maine-et-Loire, had, through the intermediary of close colleagues, several opportunities to get themselves talked about. That was not the case of Mr Rotureau who doesn't want to be left behind the mediatic concert which will take place from September.

That strategy has an advantage. Mr Rotureau who, as many inhabitants, can't predict what will be the result of the ballots, must take time to carefully consider the different political trends from left, right and centre. He can't assume which of them will be allies of foes. If he surely knows the platform of Mr Béatse whom he is the deputy-mayor in charge of housing, he has no information about the others. And this is the limit of the line he follows, to become dependant on the announcements of the other candidates. But surely, he will talk and act.