Gérard Pignol, resident of Oullins near Lyon, is a presidential candidate in 2022. – E. Frisullo / 20 Minutes
- Gérard Pignol, a retired former college principal, has decided to run for the 2022 Presidential.
- Installed in Oullins, near Lyon, this musician thinks he has several strings to his bow to convince the French, tired, like him, of programmed, negotiated and frustrating applications.
- The small independent candidate details his challenge and his first steps in an online video that has already caught the eye of a lot of French people.
Hat screwed on his head, Gérard Pignol poses in front of a bed in his garden. A bit flirtatious, this Oullinois has easy speaking and amused eyes. But the challenge that this retiree is about to take up is not a joke. A few weeks ago, this Marseillais of origin, installed in the Lyon region for twenty-five years, announced his candidacy for the presidential election of 2022. A very serious decision, therefore, and a challenge which seems almost impossible on paper in which this musician, a former college professor, firmly believes.
“My credo is dreaming of the impossible. It is perfectly topical with the health, economic and social crisis that we are going through, he confides to 20 minutes. The French need hope, prospects and confidence. I believe that they have had enough of the programmed, negotiated and frustrating candidatures and that they do not want a second round Emmanuel Macron – Marine Le Pen. Me neither. My challenge and the question is: can a small candidate, outside the party and without means, maintain his candidacy until the end? “
History tends to make him believe it when he remembers Marcel Barbu, this last-minute candidate who participated in the first election by direct universal suffrage. It was in 1965 with in front of him, the monsters of the policy that were De Gaule and Mitterrand. “He managed to get the signings and make a very small score. De Gaule nicknamed him the Hackerlu, but he was there and he managed to express his ideas, ”emphasizes Gérard Pignol, who has exchanged the beret worn at the time by the Utopian Bearded man for a hat.
“It’s a sign of recognition, it fits my personality well. And then from a hat, he can come out full of original ideas, ”slips the former principal of the college determined to create the surprise. “Frankly, I believe in it, otherwise I would not introduce myself”, underlines the musician whose the presentation video broadcast online meets with real success. “She’s been seen over 158,000 times, if that’s no encouragement. I receive sympathetic support emails and texts every day. Even if it is a very small place, it exists, I believe, between all the candidates, ”adds Gérard Pignol, who insists on his apolitical and extremely serious approach.
Education as a national priority
“I am, I believe, someone original, optimistic and enthusiastic but I am determined. I do this seriously, I am aware of the issues and I think I have some original ideas that would make it possible to change things ”. To move from utopia to reality, in short. To convince, this musician has worked on a series of concrete measures which he details in his video. Among them, he would like to make Education a national priority. “It has to go through parents and teachers. Education is the basis of everything in a society. You need keys that allow you to regain authority, trust, respect and consideration. Education is the first solution to avoid violence ”. For students and precarious populations, it plans to create a “student life and life resource”.
“The students are in a big mess. We must act. This resource would allow them to complete their studies and for people living in poverty, it would allow them to live quite simply ”. For employment, the former college principal plans to set up, from the start of the September 2022 school year, one hour of weekly lessons in the school timetable (from 5th to 3rd) to allow students to discover from the youngest age the professional world.
“We must not pit the young against the oldest”
“It is about bringing the business back to school and offering students the opportunity to discover all types of businesses, from SMEs to very small businesses, including craftsmen,” emphasizes Gérard Pignol, who no He also did not forget to include in his program in preparation proposals for the elected representatives of the people. It provides for the deputies as for the students representing the French elite (the ex-Ena in particular) of the practical professional internships on the ground. Ideas among many others which will hold the attention of the greatest number, hopes the musician whose age does not seem to slow down the projects.
“I used to answer that I am younger than Joe Biden, he laughs. We must not pit the young against the oldest. France is a whole, you can be a certain age but be young in your head and meet the expectations of young people, ”continues the retired music teacher, determined to be the voice of countless French people eager for other things. Not a new world, no, but accessible dreams. “The achievable utopias of the French are much better than the promises of politicians.”