Perpignan: towards the end of the republican front?

Audio 02:28

By: Anne Soetemondt Follow

Will the National Rally have a trophy to brandish Sunday evening by winning a city of 100,000 inhabitants? It is the bet of Louis Aliot in Perpignan. A duel between him, RN deputy, and the outgoing mayor, LR Jean-Marc Pujol. Behind this battle, a question: the strength of the republican front.

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“  We are facing a democratic shortage. Those who will find it difficult to vote Pujol on Sunday also say that in 2022, if they have the choice between Macron and Le Pen, they will not go to vote.  »Arriving third on March 15, environmental candidate Agnès Langevine sounds the alarm. She withdrew and called to vote in favor of outgoing mayor Jean-Marc Pujol, but is worried. Unlike 2014, where the same duel ended in the victory of candidate LR, things could turn this time to the advantage of the former secretary of Jean-Marie Le Pen. "  This situation must challenge us   ," she said.

This loss of landmarks for voters, Louis Aliot put it for two years. RN deputy, the former vice-president of the party has erased his label to hunt on the right, capitalize on the feeling of downgrading of the inhabitants of Perpignan. Insecurity, supposed clientelism: Louis Aliot has continued to pound the balance sheet of the outgoing team. As his friend Robert Ménard had done in the neighboring town of Béziers in 2014. A profitable strategy. In the first round, he won 36% of the vote against only 18% for his opponent LR.

But the deputy RN is not the only one to have attacked the Pujol years. All the candidates, whatever their political color, made it a mantra. "  That's why the Republican front against me is over, decrypts Louis Aliot , how do you tell people for months that a so-and-so is bad and then tell them to vote for him in the second round, is inconsistent.  "

Facing the Republican front, an anti-Pujol front

Symbol of the crumbling of the republican front, the rallying to Louis Aliot of several running mate of the candidate En Marche. Despite the withdrawal of Romain Grau to block the RN candidate, Alain Cavalière (number 2 on the list) will vote Aliot. “  I don't see how the character threatens the foundations of the Fifth Republic. (…) But beware, I didn't become a lepéniste in two and a half months. It is a local choice for a man whom I esteem  ”, specifies the president of the commercial court. Another supporter from the LaREM list, Josiane Cabanas. The former journalist, still part of the Les Républicains party, former assistant to Jean-Marc Pujol, refuses to vote for his former boss. "  For me, it's no  ", explains the one who has only one objective: to land the outgoing mayor.

Are these rallies weak signals of a shift in opinion? No, the outgoing mayor reassures himself, "  nothing but individuals  ". A few days before the election, Jean-Marc Pujol still believes in victory. Going from 18% in the first round to more than 50% on Sunday? "  Of course it is possible  ",assures the man who made no move towards the two candidates who withdrew in his favor.

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