Paris’ socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo will run for a chance to be France’s first woman president in 2022.
“I want all children in France to have the same opportunities I had,” she says invoking her roots as the child of Spanish immigrants who fled Francisco Franco’s rule.
Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of Paris, announced her candidacy for the French presidency, saying she would seek to mend the anger and divisions in French society and win back low-income workers disillusioned with the left.
Hidalgo, who announced his candidacy with the words “to offer a future to all our children,” needs to win the vote tso be held at the end of September among those who want to be a candidate from the Socialist Party.
“I want to end the contempt, arrogance, disdain and condescendence”
Hidalgo won the elections held in 2014, becoming the first female mayor of the Municipality of Paris. Hidalgo is known for her ongoing campaign to reduce the number of cars in the French capital, increase bike lanes and make it a greener city.
During her candidacy, Hidalgo, who witnessed many protests in the last two years, especially the yellow vests, and wanted to address the workers and those marching for social justice in France, frequently refers to her own childhood.
In her candidacy speech, Hidalgo criticized leading political figures without naming current President Emmanuel Macron, saying that she wants to “end the contempt, arrogance, disdain and condescendence of those who know so little of our lives but decide everything without us.”
“I want all children in France to have the same opportunities I had,” she added, invoking her roots as the child of Spanish immigrants who fled Francisco Franco’s rule.
“The five-year term that is coming to an end was supposed to unite the French, but it has divided them like never before. It was supposed to solve social problems, it has made them worse. It was supposed to protect our planet, it has turned its back on ecology,” she said.
She added that she decided to run because of the country’s “worrying” situation and accused Macron of having “turned his back on ecology.”
Hidalgo, who is not a well-known figure in the country outside the capital and has traveled the country from remote villages to small towns to introduce herself to the public, announced to voters that she wants to re-industrial France, bring back factories from abroad, establish a low-carbon economy and raise wages.