Lyon: Jean-Michel Aulas will declare himself a candidate for mayor "in a few days"
After months of false suspense, former OL boss Jean-Michel Aulas announced on Thursday, September 4, that he would formalize his candidacy for mayor of Lyon "in a few days." He will run "as an independent" but with the support of the LR, which Laurent Wauquiez personally gave him this Thursday.
"I am taking responsibility in a few days to embark on the adventure, without any party affiliation, but with the support of the most dynamic people," declared the 76-year-old business leader during a press briefing in Lyon. "We are in the starting blocks," he continued alongside the head of the Republican deputies and the LR mayor of the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon, Pierre Oliver, who is withdrawing his own candidacy to support him.
Jean-Michel Aulas, who led Olympique Lyonnais for thirty-six years, embodies "Lyonnais pride" and "we are convinced that he is the one who can lead this battle to put our city of Lyon back on the right track," said Laurent Wauquiez to justify this rally.
A strong critic of Green Party officials on social media, Jean-Michel Aulas announced in February in Le Figaro that he was considering running against outgoing Green Party mayor Grégory Doucet, who will seek a second term in March. Since then, while stepping up his criticism of the Green Party majority, he has taken several steps in that direction and garnered support from the right and center.
"I realized that to try to transform things, to win on the ground (...), we had to be united," he explained, saying he wanted to bring together personalities ranging "from the center left to the right."
"My aim is to bring together all people of goodwill who are fed up with the current situation," he continued. After describing Lyon as a "dirty, tagged" city, he declared that he wanted to "recreate what we knew before, that is to say, a Lyon that is an exemplary model of a city." The municipal elections will take place on March 15 and 22.
La Croıx
