- Rachida Dati was in a meeting in the Gaveau hall in Paris five days before the first round.
- The candidate Les Républicains received the support of Nicolas Sarkozy.
- Since the start of the campaign, Rachida Dati has claimed parentage with the former President of the Republic.
"Dear Nicolas ... What pride and happiness to have you by our side". A few words, the Gaveau room exults. Christian Jacob resumes under cheers. "You who have given us so much!" Who gave so much to France and allowed Rachida to reveal herself and be what she is today! " The boss of the Republicans continues, but right-wing activists are only waiting for one thing: the arrival of Nicolas Sarkozy.
The former president is in the 8th arrondissement this Monday evening to support Rachida Dati, the LR candidate in the capital, a few days before the first round of the municipal elections. When the two arrive on stage, the same one where the former head of state celebrated his victory on May 6, 2007, the cheers redoubled. "My dear friends, you can imagine my emotion to come back here. Dear Rachida, we have practiced this room so many times… ”The hair is grayer today, the voice less powerful, but very quickly, the political animal reappears.
Nicolas Sarkozy's (very short) show
“I wanted to be here because it is an important political moment […] Rachida, she is a loyal person, it's just to give her back what she gave me. Because in politics, to say that someone is loyal, wow… it's a huge thing, it's an extremely rare disease ”. Nicolas Sarkozy has fun with the room then briefly traces the journey of his protege, from his position as advisor to the Minister of the Interior in 2002, to his appointment as Keeper of the Seals in 2007.
"I have always been able to count on her, and today you can count on me." […] It gives me pleasure to see this success and this dynamic. It gives me pleasure for you, for France and for the Republican right ”, continues the former president. At his side, Rachida Dati listens timidly, head down. He continues: "There is something I like about her, she is so courageous", recalling the lack of movement of some, right, at the start of the campaign. “I prefer that they are few at the start and huge at the finish than the opposite. She has an inexhaustible energy. And that's still your Sarkozy side ”. The intervention lasted only a handful of minutes, but it galvanized the crowd.
Dati plays it like Sarkozy
In the process, Rachida Dati unfolds her program around her triptych: safety, cleanliness, family. She also torpedoed, with her usual ease, her main competitors, Anne Hidalgo and Agnès Buzyn. "She is campaigning on the fundamentals of the right, but it is above all the subjects of concern of the inhabitants, tackle Agnès Evren, candidate LR in the 15th arrondissement. Because on safety or cleanliness, Ms. Hidalgo shies away. "
His supporters praise his multiple trips to the field, in working-class neighborhoods in particular, and his promise of firmness against drug dealers and insecurity. Ground, attacks, and polemical exits, a model of campaign "sarkozyste". “There are many similarities. They are both "warriors". Rachida is a fighter like Nicolas Sarkozy. And like him, she is unambiguous about her proposals, ”insists Agnès Evren. In the room, the activists are convinced of the parallel. "Some say that Dati is the female Sarkozy, I think it's fair," smiles Monique. She is fishing and has not been afraid to go to difficult places ”.
"Sarkozy's presence is good for the morale of the right," says Jean-Pierre Lecoq. But the mayor of the 6th arrondissement is already thinking about it. According to him, the former president "remains very popular in the electorate, and could attract people who are starting to return from macronism". Because despite his good momentum in the polls, Rachida Dati will have to gather more widely in the second round if she wants to win. For this, the right therefore puts on its grigri, Sarkozy, and its victorious campaign recipes. Tonight, she also pretends to forget that the former president could fail, twice in 2012 and 2016, with these same recipes.
Paris
Municipal in 2020 in Paris: School rhythms, canteen, ecology… What do the candidates offer on education?
Municipal
Municipal in 2020 in Paris: Wind blows, limited interventions ... The daily life of Rachida Dati at the Paris Council (re) pointed out
- Municipal
- The Republicans
- Elections
- Paris
- Rachida Dati
- Nicolas Sarkozy