Édouard Philippe or the fraction of Macronie

Nicolas Beytout 07:59, January 17, 2022

The political party founded a few months ago by Edouard Philippe has begun to take shape.

The former Prime Minister announced this weekend the creation of 130 local committees which will soon be followed by a hundred others.

If there was the slightest doubt about Édouard Philippe's desire to influence political life over the next few years, it would suffice to observe the methodical work he is doing to build his own party, Horizons. And if there was the slightest doubt about the concern aroused among macronists by this rise in power for his own account by the former Prime Minister, it would be enough to look at the way in which he was placed under surveillance by Emmanuel Macron him -same.

The affair, which broke out last week, had started several months ago with the grand maneuvers of François Bayrou, the man who whispers in the ear of the President and who has dreamed for years of building an ultra- dominant at the center of French political life. A kind of common house in which all the components of the current majority were to meet, the center-left, the center-center (the MoDem, of course) and the center-right represented by the micro-party Agir, led by Foreign Trade Minister Franck Riester, and of course Horizons, Edouard Philippe's brand new structure. This large pro-Macron co-rental space even had a name, Together Citizens!. With an exclamation point, so much this project was supposed to enthuse the crowds. Except that in view of the latest developments,rather than the exclamation mark, it is the question mark that now seems much more appropriate...

Citizens together!

is at a standstill?

Yes, dead center is exactly that.

Since leaving Matignon, Édouard Philippe has decided to ride on his own.

But as he knows that he had no political space to hope to face Emmanuel Macron and to attack the Elysée from 2022, he very quickly proclaimed his full and complete support for the re-election of the outgoing President.

Which did not prevent him from thinking about his future, precisely with the creation of his political party Horizons.

Given his political status, given his very great popularity, he could hope to very quickly become the rallying point of the right of the macronie and, possibly, later, of part of the Republicans.

The most natural first step was thus to bring the small Agir party closer to Horizons.

And in fact, negotiations were actively carried out, until a conclusion expected in the first days of January.

Except that at the last moment, everything fell apart...

Whose fault is it ?

To Emmanuel Macron, who took a dim view of the rapprochement between these two former members of the Republicans, and the birth of a real political force formed on the right of his majority. He therefore prohibited his minister Franck Riester from contributing his small political capital to that of Édouard Philippe. Obviously, the latter took it very badly, and today there is a real cold snap between the two men (the President and his former head of government). It must be said that there were behind this merger of big financial interests and especially the beginning of what can happen afterwards. I mean, after the presidential. Because the initiative of Édouard Philippe, the creation of his party Horizons, it does not concern the before but the after election. His bet, if Emmanuel Macron is elected,is that its majority will be much narrower than today. And that it will therefore depend… on a constituted force, for example gathered around him. He is a former Prime Minister, which gives him a preeminent political status. And if the current President is defeated, obviously his majority will be in pieces and probably to be picked up. And in both cases, this gives him a special place in this race which will begin the very day after the presidential election: the 2027 deadline. It is far, of course, and the sky for the moment is suddenly quite cloudy, but how did Édouard Philippe say again? Ah yes, the important thing is HorizonsAnd if the current President is defeated, obviously his majority will be in pieces and probably to be picked up. And in both cases, this gives him a special place in this race which will begin the very day after the presidential election: the 2027 deadline. It is far, of course, and the sky for the moment is suddenly quite cloudy, but how did Édouard Philippe say again? Ah yes, the important thing is HorizonsAnd if the current President is defeated, obviously his majority will be in pieces and probably to be picked up. And in both cases, this gives him a special place in this race which will begin the very day after the presidential election: the 2027 deadline. It is far, of course, and the sky for the moment is suddenly quite cloudy, but how did Édouard Philippe say again? Ah yes, the important thing is Horizons