Three weeks before Paris municipal elections, socialist candidate Emmanuel Grégoire held an unprecedented exchange with residents, lacking a debate with main rival Rachida Dati. The event took place on Sunday at Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad in the 19th arrondissement.
Emmanuel Grégoire, a deputy and candidate of the left-wing union excluding La France insoumise, organized a question-and-answer session with Parisians on Sunday, February 22. Held under a gray sky, the event drew about 500 people to Place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad, a site held by the Socialist Party since 1995. The crowd included many militants, candidates, and elected officials from the left-wing majority.
The setup was straightforward: a small stage with a bistro table, a high stool, and a microphone open to anyone to ask questions. Over one and a half hours, around 30 participants, not pre-registered and including sympathizers, questioned the candidate on their daily concerns. Grégoire had announced the initiative earlier that week, stating: “For weeks, I have proposed to debate. For weeks, Rachida Dati refuses. I will not back down. If we cannot debate with her, let us debate together.”
Rachida Dati, the Republicans' candidate, has declined invitations for a pre-first-round debate. This exchange aimed to pit Grégoire's program against residents' expectations in a tense electoral context in Paris.
