The sulfurous President George Montpellier Agglomeration Frêche inaugurates today its new project: five statues dedicated to the memory of great men of the twentieth century. The choice of the President of the Languedoc-Roussillon include Lenin controversy. The political climate is expected to deteriorate a little since Mao's statue is also planned ...
Celebrating the memory of great men of the twentieth century: the project of George Frêche to Montpellier, the city he was mayor from 1977 to 2004. General de Gaulle and Jean Jaures will complement the strong personalities of the last century: the protagonists of the Second World War, Churchill and Roosevelt, figures of the struggle for human rights, like Nelson Mandela and Gandhi, or the Egyptian leader Nasser and former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. Only problem: George wants Frêche include Lenin and Mao, whose political legacy is still more than challenged.
"General de Gaulle did not intend to camp next to Lenin or Mao" said Arnaud Julien, departmental director of the UMP "As the state reduces its lifestyle, local install statues at the expense of taxpayers" he adds.
Upstream of the facility this morning in the district Odysseum first five statues, the regional president justified his choice: "I chose these men because they played a decisive role in the destiny the world. And because I have a deep admiration for what they did, including Lenin during the Russian Revolution" he said, adding that he hesitated to bring Stalin in this circle. "It's too early, we still consider the butcher of Europe" he says.
Former Socialist Party expelled in 2007 for his controversial remarks about black players in the France team, talk about him again, five months after the regional elections in which he had opposed Martine Aubry. Very popular in his region - in 2010 he was reelected president without the support of no party - his project of "great men of the twentieth century", however, should face the refusal of the Greens, who have vowed to rip down the statue as soon as possible of the UMP and Socialist local, whose mayor of Montpellier Helene Mandroux.
