The kind speech

The speech of Frédéric Béatse, the current Angers mayor, on January 8th was obviously forced by the regulations about the communication of political representatives during the electoral campaign. Given the municipal polls will take place on March 23rd and 30th, the New Year greetings ceremony must have a genuine informative content without any reference to the next elections : what has been done before the polls and what will be done after them, as well as the candidacy of the speaker.

So, Mr. Béatse was confined in an exercise in style and was due to warn the audience about the possible disappointment his adress would generate. He was right to do so because the comments of attendance and medias have all pointed out the mayor's restraint. So Frédéric Béatse skilfully choose an angle above the municipal elections by highlighting the virtues of the "Angevin model". "The intense links of solidarity between inhabitants allow us to overcome difficulties more easily than elsewhere", reminded Mr. Béatse who also paid tribute to three categories of operators : the volunteers, the managers and the students. It is noticeable that his "daily worry", the "battle of employment", will need their cooperation.

The mayor has once again repeated his anger after the secularism tree was beheaded twice, the racist insults hurled to the French justice minister and his will to prevent the assimilation of Angers state of mind to shameful misconducts. Nevertheless, that rallying speech will have to be followed by more radical assumptions of positions in the weeks to come.