Political turmoil won’t derail Paris 2024, say Anne Hidalgo, Tony Estanguet and Thomas Bach

Paris City Mayor Anne Hidalgo and  Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee. IOC

Snap French parliamentary elections called just weeks before the start of the Paris Olympics are “extremely unsettling”, the city’s mayor said, as political turmoil emerged as an unexpected risk to the July-August Games.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was dissolving the national assembly on Sunday after results from European parliamentary polls showed major gains for the far-right.

“Like a lot of people I was stunned to hear the president decide to do a dissolution (of parliament),” Anne Hidalgo said Monday, during a visit to a school outside of Paris with the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach.

Hidalgo said she was “worried” by the election results and acknowledged that Macron, a domestic rival, “could not continue as before”.

“But all the same, a dissolution just before the Games, it’s really something that is extremely unsettling,” the 64-year-old socialist added.

Hidalgo stressed that from an operational perspective the election would not change the Olympics, a message echoed by Bach, who was with her during the school visit.

“I think that all the work of installing, of preparing the Games, the infrastructure, is behind us and what remains is to welcome the entire world and we will do it with the joy that we have to host these Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris,” Hidalgo said.

Macron announced the two-round parliamentary elections on 30 June and 7 July, with the Paris Olympics set to begin less than three weeks later on July 26 in the presence of more than 120 heads of state.

Asked if she could “welcome the world” alongside a possible far-right prime minister, Hidalgo replied, “I will welcome the world as mayor of Paris, with the president of the Republic.”

Paris 2024 director Tony Estanguet also said his team was “more determined than ever” to make the Games a success. “Since we submitted the bid for the Olympic Games, there have been about ten elections and we have understood how to work with public stakeholders,” he said.

“We are in the final phase and all the major decisions have been taken, we are now in the operational phase,” concluded Estanguet. Bach mirrored Estanguet’s remarks, saying, “The political turmoil in France will not affect the preparations for the Olympic Games.

“Macron has been the main promoter of the Olympics, believing it will serve to project his country’s international image through sport. It is a democratic process that will not disrupt the Games. France is used to holding elections, they will hold them again, there will be a new government and everyone will support the Olympics.”

He later added that French political leaders were united in their support for the Games. “I have no indication that this unity will break now, just a few days before the opening of the Games,” Bach concluded.

The Paris Olympics open with an unprecedented ceremony on the river Seine on 26 July, the first time the opening festivities for a Summer Olympics have taken place outside the main stadium.



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