Presidential 2022: Hidalgo “sweeps” the (delicate) question of financing his campaign – The HuffPost

POOL New via Reuters

POLICY – A delicate subject for the PS. Several banks have reportedly refused a loan for Anne Hidalgo’s campaign, according to information from Figaro, revealed Friday, November 19, thus undermining the finances of his campaign. “I do not know exactly how many, but several banks have been consulted without any positive feedback for the moment”, thus affirmed a person close to the mayor of Paris on a daily basis. Among these establishments would figure the historic bank of the Socialists, the Cooperative Credit.

Another source has in fact confirmed at Figaro that “the cooperative credit no longer lends to a candidate if there are not several surveys over time around 8%. The banks were strict in 2017, they are even more so today ”. However, in the polls, the Socialist has peaked for several weeks around 5% of voting intentions in the first round.

“We don’t have a campaign fundraising topic”

A financially and politically important threshold, because under it the public reimbursement of the expenses of the candidates and their party drop drastically. The state assumes part of the campaign costs of all the candidates who compete in the first round and thus obtained sufficient sponsorship from mayors.

Exceeding the 5% mark of the votes cast in the first round increases the reimbursement tenfold. Below 5%, the State pays a sum equivalent to 4.75% of the expenditure ceiling for the first round (i.e. 800,423 euros). Above 5%, reimbursement is maximum, since it reaches 47.5% of the expenditure ceiling, or 8 million euros.

Asked about this by Anne-Claire Coudray on the set of TF1, Anne Hidalgo “swept away” the question: “This is false, moreover we have no subject of campaign financing,” he said. she declared before adding: “It will be a beautiful campaign, strong and with the necessary means, so on that I am sweeping this question away”.

“The campaign is running its course”

For its part, the leadership of the PS also ensures the Figaro that the banks have “not yet” been consulted and that “anyway, we can campaign without a bank”. Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie, treasurer of Anne Hidalgo’s campaign, agrees: “It is not correct to say that we have refusals. We are in discussions, which is different and we have time ”. And to add: “All the banks do not look only at the polls, they also look at [la] financial robustness … ”.

Finally, she recalls that at this stage of the campaign, the candidacy of Anne Hidalgo benefits from a “solid political formation”, and that she is the only one ”on the left to have the certainty of [ses] sponsorships ”.

“The campaign is gaining momentum”, assured this Saturday Mathieu Klein, the mayor of Nancy, in charge of the program in the campaign and spokesperson for the campaign, who affirms that there is on the ground “a expectation, a desire to dialogue with her ”.

“The campaign is continuing”, also wants to reassure Olivier Faure, the first secretary of the PS, underlining the various steps to “associate the French” with the vision of the socialist candidate for France.

See also on The HuffPost: Anne Hidalgo should not have left Rachida Dati’s microphone open to the Paris Council