Regional / Paca: Jean-Laurent Felizia withdraws his list, RN-LR duel in the 2nd round

The ecologist leader of the union of the left in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Jean-Laurent Felizia announced Monday the withdrawal of his list to his running mates, leaving a duel in the second round of the regional outgoing LR Renaud Muselier and Thierry Mariani for the RN.

This withdrawal, revealed by the daily

, was confirmed by Jean-Pierre Cervantes, leader of this list in the Vaucluse, and Anthony Gonçalves, 4th in the Bouches-du-Rhône, as well as by the local manager of one of the parties supporting this large union of the left from which only the rebels were absent.

"I think it's a betrayal"

Less than 24 hours after announcing the maintenance of his list in the second round, with a score of 16.9%, against 36.4% for Thierry Mariani and 31.9% for Renaud Muselier, the municipal councilor of Lavandou (Var) therefore backtracked, yielding to pressure from the Parisian staffs, that of EELV in the lead. "Yesterday evening, there was a small difference in voice between Mr. Muselier and the RN (according to estimates in the early evening on Sunday). This morning, it was no longer the same tobacco", explained Stéphane Salord, member of the list of the Ecological and Social Rally in the Bouches-du-Rhône: "Personally, I was in favor of the withdrawal. You have to be consistent, so that you are faithful to ethical and political commitments".

Other running mates were much less accepting of this sudden withdrawal: "The decision was taken by Jean-Laurent Felizia without a vote, after having listened to all the heads of the list and certain politicians express themselves", assured Jean-Pierre Cervantes. to AFP: "I consider it a betrayal. (...) I think it is a fundamental political error, I did not enter politics to vote against".

"We do not consider that we can play this dice election"

In fact, the pressure was important on Jean-Laurent Felizia since his announcement on Sunday night.

Monday morning, the boss of the Greens, Julien Bayou, had even brandished the threat of exclusion against his leader in Paca: "We do not consider that we can play this election with dice, the National Front [now National Assembly ] is too high, "he insisted.

Calls for withdrawal had also been relayed by the PC, the PS or Place Publique, other member parties of this large union of the left.

In the first round in Paca, Thierry Mariani's RN list was ahead of Renaud Muselier's by 4.47 points, much less than Marion Maréchal-Le Pen's 14 point lead over Christian Estrosi in 2015.

Six years ago, to avoid a possible victory for the RN in the region, the leftist list then led by the socialist Christophe Castaner, now boss of the walking deputies, was scuttled just hours after the announcement of the results. .