Louis de Raguenel 7:28 am, August 27, 2021

Two new right-wing personalities declared themselves candidates for the presidential election on Thursday with Eric Ciotti and Michel Barnier.

Now, whether they want to go through the primary or want to run directly for the supreme election, all the rivals will try to get out of the game in a very short time.

DECRYPTION

Effervescence on the side of the Republicans.

The presidential election is fast approaching and the right-wing primary candidates are gradually coming out of the woods.

Valérie Pécresse, Philippe Juvin and since Thursday Eric Ciotti and Michel Barnier have indeed already declared themselves.

LR activists will be spoiled for choice when it comes to electing their candidate for 2022.

An already crucial first weekend

The starting line is at least partly known: there are therefore these four candidates for the primary on the right, in addition to Xavier Bertrand, who wishes to run directly for the presidential election.

"It is difficult today to see clearly because the list of contenders for the primary is not yet completely fixed, because we had the surprise discovery on the side of Eric Ciotti", estimates Bruno Cautrès, CNRS researcher at Cevipof.

A personality like Bruno Retailleau has not made his choice known.

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In the coming days, each candidate will show their muscles and show their support.

It will begin this weekend in La Baule, where Michel Barnier and Philippe Juvin will participate in the universities of the Republicans.

And then, it will be necessary to look on the side of the Alpes-Maritimes where Eric Ciotti gathers his support in the department which has the most LR members.

Without forgetting Valérie Pécresse, who will bring together this same weekend all her political friends, supporters and relatives in Brive, in Corrèze.

Far from Île-de-France where she is president.

Unclear calendar for expected candidates

For the rest, it is not yet very clear. The party plans to launch a survey on August 30 of 15,000 supporters to try to identify the candidate who stands out. But Michel Barnier has been challenging the method for several weeks. The former Brexit negotiator insists on his wish for a primary, with the vote of the militants.

What do they think of this traffic jam of candidates? What do they want for 2022? Who is best placed to win a possible LR primary? "It is first and foremost a candidate who will show that he has the possibility of being able to do well in the presidential election of 2022", answers Bruno Cautrès. "The activists want that to stop, this feeling of being a little weightless, of not knowing if there will be a primary or not, who will be their candidate… Above all, they want a candidate who has credibility to win the presidential election and at least to look good. Obviously, they want a candidate who is quite at the center of gravity of their concerns and their political values. " Who from Valérie Pécresse, Xavier Bertrand,Will Philippe Juvin, Michel Barnier or Éric Ciotti best meet these expectations?