In a small one-bedroom apartment in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, we are busy this afternoon. The campaign headquarters of the Sovereign Republic movement is transformed into a television studio this Wednesday, February 9. At 8:30 p.m., the 2022 presidential candidate, Georges Kuzmanovic, will answer questions live on “ [sa] life, [son] work”, as he says.
Two other members of the movement are busy preparing the filming installation as well as possible. “We are missing a wire to have an image feedback on the computer. What immediately illustrates the key word of this campaign: “resourcefulness” according to them. And this one has its limits, like the live which had to be stopped in the middle of the evening after a technical problem. The video should to make themselves known to the French and to have a presentation element to provide to mayors for potential sponsorships.
Georges Kuzmanovic officially had only 27 signatures on February 10, out of the 500 needed. “For small candidates, there is more mistrust and therefore verification. That’s why sponsorships take longer to be counted,” says the person who plays the role of press officer, Pedro. All ensure that they “already have more and many waiting”.
“Our advantage is consistency”
Before bringing their possible signature, some elected officials wish to know the candidate. “I am a man, a dad”, introduces the 48-year-old Franco-Yugoslavian, taking a child’s pacifier out of his pocket. “I have been involved in politics for a long time, but sometimes my candidacy surprises me even,” he continues. A candidacy motivated by “the current state of politics in France”. According to him, the real problems are not sufficiently addressed. For example: “By next fall, the French will see their electricity bills double. So we give them a few hundred euros… It doesn’t fit. »
“France is my country, my three daughters will live here, argues Georges Kuzmanovic. I had the chance to live a lot abroad, it helps to better understand our country and its value. After a childhood spent between France and Yugoslavia, he then left for Rwanda to help children left orphans by the genocide. He also went to the United States to study at MIT, before enlisting in Afghanistan as a reserve officer.
“It is this very varied background that can be a strength and help us to face this campaign despite the fact that we are little known,” says one of the members of the movement. “He worked in the public and in the private sector, was an employee and an executive. Our advantage is the consistency of our program. “For them, they can” never “be reproached for being disconnected from the reality of daily life for the French, “unlike many candidates”.
From La France Insoumise to Jacques Cheminade
And if his name does not evoke much, Georges Kuzmanovic puts forward his experience to carry out this campaign. During the 2017 presidential election, he was Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s spokesperson for international and defense issues. “I have remained faithful to the France Insoumise of 2017, with a clear line on Europe: we change it or we leave it. Today, the party is no longer what it was, ”he confides.
February 7, 1992: signature of the disastrous treaty of #Maastricht
France was losing its sovereignty to the technocrats in Brussels, Germany and the banks.
Results: mass unemployment, deindustrialization, abyssal deficits.In 2022, do we continue or do we liberate France? pic.twitter.com/xFhwLI48Hb
— Georges Kuzmanovic 🇨🇵 (@Vukuzman) February 7, 2022
Sovereign Republic can also count on the support of former candidate Jacques Cheminade. “We believe that we must unite at the national level in the face of an international risk of economic crisis and war. This candidacy can put the fight against the financial oligarchy back on the agenda”, justifies the man who has three presidential campaigns to his credit. Another advantage put forward: Alexandre Langlois, often called the “police candidate”, will join him from this Monday, February 14.
Homemade profiling
But the current fight of this “unknown candidate” is therefore to find, before March 4, the 500 sponsorships of elected officials necessary to validate his application. Many posters are plastered on the walls of the small local movement. “To remember, already give, fifth raise …”, we can read, written in marker.
If some candidates call and pay real call centers to succeed, here everyone does their part. “We have 59 members, activists and sympathizers who are busy, and some will even go door-to-door,” says the candidate. Most of them work in parallel. “Some take time off. But we have a small number of teachers and students who are currently on vacation and who take that time, he smiles. Sometimes you have to call in the middle of the night to get mayors from Polynesia”.
On the HQ computer, a well-established Excel spreadsheet. The elect are sorted. Has he already given his sponsorship? Who did he sponsor in the last election? What are the issues defended and which are present on its territory? Profiling is accurate.
“Sponsorship should not be support”
The candidate picks up his phone: “Hello Mr. X. This is Georges Kuzmanovic, the presidential candidate. As you can imagine I’m calling you for referrals. Unfortunately for him, the mayor has already given his way to someone else. “Oops, the board hasn’t been updated,” the three men joke. Second attempt, answering machine. On messaging Georges talks about his past as a fighter, a story to which the mayor in question is apparently close.
A lot of effort for a success that they fix at a sponsorship for 100 calls. “Today it must be understood that some mayors have too much to lose by not signing for certain big parties, and others do not prefer to sponsor anyone,” laments Georges Kuzmanovic. For the latter, it must be made clear that “sponsorship is not support and should not be perceived as such. “Before anticipating a failure:” Even if we don’t get 500, we won’t be far. »