The 62-year-old girl in Spain is the favorite to win the Socialist party elections.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has announced that she will run for president in next year’s election, and will run for office against Emmanuel Macron.
A 62-year-old Spanish girl who has violently fled to Francisco Franco is the favorite to win the Socialist party elections.
But the first female mayor of Paris will need to expand her national profile to become France’s first female president.
A few minutes after the announcement on Sunday, one of the activists, Marine Le Pen’s far-right leader began his third campaign as president of the southern city of Frejus.
Hidalgo opted for the city center of Rouen in the northwest of his announcement rather than at the back of the Paris city hall.
The mayor of Paris since 2014, has been competing as a paralyzed man whose job of squeezing cars out of the capital and making the city green has divided people.
Humbly, realizing the magnitude of the moment, and making our hope a reality in our lives, I decided to become president of the French Republic. pic.twitter.com/viaXwURm53
– Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) September 12, 2021
Interpretation: Humbly, realizing the magnitude of the moment, and making our hopes a reality in our lives, I chose to be the vice president of the French Republic, Hidalgo wrote on Twitter.
Seasonal promises
In his remarks, Hidalgo said the way he was raised in a working environment in Lyon showed how a French school can help children deal with “class discrimination”.
But he warned that the French republican nation, which promises freedom, equality and brotherhood, is “divided before us”.
“I want all children in France to have the same opportunities,” he said.
Journalist Pierre Haski told Al Jazeera that Hidalgo’s reputation is one of the best-selling.
“She tells her story as the daughter of a working Spanish man who moved to another country [family] who has made himself the mayor of Paris, the world capital of the country, “Haski said.
“That’s what they’re developing, then I want everyone to have the same opportunities I’ve had. They have a program … to fight inequality, further education, to help the poor,” he added.
However, there are still major challenges ahead, according to Haski.
“One of the shortcomings of his election is that being the mayor of Paris definitely gives him visibility and importance, as well as disability,” Haski explained.
“Outside of Paris, people hate the capital, and they hate what they see as the pride of the people of Paris, so being a mayor of Paris is not very important,” Haski said.
Research shows that Hidalgo will only get 7 to 9% in the first years of voting for president in April, if elected to represent Socialists.
He also said that one of the most important things was to turn France into a green economy, blaming Macron for failing to deliver on his climate promises.
Macron is yet to confirm whether he will continue the second round, but is expected to do so.
The current president and right-wing leader Le Pen is voting between 20% and 24% and is currently running for a second term.