Paris (AFP)

The president of the Centrists Hervé Morin supports Valérie Pécresse, a presidential candidate via a possible primary of the right and the center, and who according to him has "all the qualities to be head of state".

The president (ex-LR) of Libres!

"has the pragmatism and courage of women in politics, the pugnacity and endurance required for office, and the concern for the balance of French society more necessary than ever in a country that Emmanuel Macron has deeply fractured", assures Mr. Morin in an interview with Le Point published on Thursday.

Valérie Pécresse will be the guest of honor at the "apple festival" which marks the political comeback of Hervé Morin, Sunday in Epreville-en-Lieuvin (Eure).

On Saturday she will attend the LR Youth Summer School at the Parc Floral in Paris.

The president of the Ile-de-France region, who describes herself as "two-thirds Merkel, one third Thatcher", carries according to Mr. Morin a synthesis combining "respect for freedoms, whether individual, local or economic", and "social market economy".

"It is the time of women", further estimates the president of the Normandy region who "prefers the solidity and pragmatism of Angela Merkel to the lyrical flights of Emmanuel Macron".

Saying certain that "what she has done at the level of the region, (...) she will do it for France", the centrist also urges Xavier Bertrand to submit to a possible primary.

"Since he believes he is the best candidate, he should not fear her. If he refuses her, he will bear the heavy responsibility for the failure of the right and the center in the next presidential election. And today nobody can consider himself as the successor of General de Gaulle ", he assures us.

© 2021 AFP