- Gérard Collomb's choice to rally to the right-wing candidate for the metropolis of Lyon is harshly commented on in the ranks of LREM.
- "Gérard Collomb lost the municipal elections in the first round" and today, "this political choice loses him in the political field", said Christophe Castaner.
- LREM has chosen to withdraw his investiture to the former Minister of the Interior, very close to Emmanuel Macron when he launched himself into the presidential campaign.
"The worst image a politician can give", a "collapse", "he is losing himself": from Paris to Lyon, the former political partners of Gérard Collomb do not have words hard enough to denounce his alliance with the right for the second round of municipal elections. To punctuate everything, La République en Marche has withdrawn its investiture from Gérard Collomb, guilty of having "crossed a red line" by renouncing to run for president of the metropolis of Lyon in favor of François-Noël Buffet (LR). In exchange, the right-wing candidate for mayor Etienne Blanc will step aside behind Yann Cucherat, colt of Collomb invested by LREM.
Since then, bitter words have multiplied. In Paris, government spokesperson Sibeth Ndiaye evokes "a form of selfishness" of one who was nevertheless "one of the very first companions of the En Marche adventure. That today he chooses a right with which I do not share any value, that of Laurent Wauquiez, that deeply disappointed me, "she said on RMC / BFMTV, with reference to the president of the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
For his successor on Place Beauvau, the mayor of Lyon "loses himself". "Gérard Collomb lost the municipal elections in the first round" and today, "this political choice loses him in the political field", declared Christophe Castaner on RTL. The Minister for Ecological Transition Elisabeth Borne "does not understand". "We often talk about overcoming the divisions but that does not mean accepting all the arrangements," she said on Public Sénat.
His old relatives have a hard tooth
In Lyon too, bitterness prevails over the choices of a man who ruled the city for almost 20 years, long under socialist colors before coming closer to En Marche.
Jean-Louis Touraine, LREM deputy for the Rhône, who was his first assistant for almost 15 years, speaks of a “collapse of [his] values. He goes overboard all his beautiful convictions in the hope of retaining a small power and offers to bond with a right that includes in its ranks former lieutenants of Charles Millon and followers of Sens Commun. "
Georges Képénékian, to whom Gérard Collomb had left the keys of the city when he left for the government, believes that "this is the worst image that a politician can give, and which gives reason to those who denigrate the political class ".
The Collomb camp also recorded a first defection Friday with Julien Ranc, head of the list in the West riding. The latter announced with seven co-listiers to resume his "total independence" after the "outdated maneuver" of the mayor of Lyon, already evoking contact with dissident walker David Kimelfeld.
There would be too great a break if the Greens won the metropolis according to him
Even on the right, we don't hide our discomfort. The boss of the Republicans spoke of a "local decision". "This is the problem of LREM, I can manage my own," said Christian Jacob on France 2.
Faced with criticism, the interested party fully assumed, only recognizing "a deep heartbreak" at the idea of leaving the Lyon power to become a simple local elected representative. "For the future of Lyon, it takes a stable majority to rebuild a city that will suffer a lot" with the economic crisis looming, Lyon being the first industrial city in France, he justified on LCI.
Senator François-Noël Buffet, former supporter of François Fillon, has for him "moderate analyzes". Why try to block at all costs the Greens who came first in the first round of municipal in Lyon? Because "there would be a deep break" he assures.
Regarding the President of the Republic to which he was very close, Collomb claims not to have had him on the phone. While sliding: "If someone has shown the way of transgression, it is Emmanuel Macron".
"What I liked about Emmanuel Macron is that he thought about the future and finally we abandoned this global vision to focus on specific measures which the French sometimes did not see the meaning of," said Gérard Collomb, citing for example the pension reform. "This is an important moment in my life and at the same time a liberation," concluded the baron of Lyon politics, now 72 years old, evoking without blinking the "sense of duty accomplished".
Lyon
2020 municipal elections in Lyon: LREM withdraws its nomination to Gérard Collomb
Municipal
Municipal in 2020 in Lyon: For LREM, Collomb has "crossed a red line" by joining forces with LR
- LREM
- Laurent wauquiez
- Lyon
- Municipal
- Gérard Collomb