The former Socialist Minister of Productive Recovery Arnaud Montebourg declared on Saturday, September 4 his candidacy for the presidency of the Republic in order to stimulate a "remount" of France, considering himself "legitimate" despite the plethora of candidates for election. left.
Arnaud Montebourg adds his name to the long list of declared or putative candidates on this side of the political spectrum, including the rebellious Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the socialist Anne Hidalgo, the communist Fabien Roussel or the candidate from the primary environmentalist.
To stand out, he chose to declare himself, on the anniversary of the proclamation of the Third Republic in 1870, in his hometown of Clamecy, in Nièvre.
One of these "sub-prefectures" of which he wants to be the defender, through the "remountada", the rise in several thematic projects of a France according to him in decline.
"It is for this difficult but magnificent task (...) that I decided to present today to the French my candidacy for the presidency of the Republic", proclaimed Arnaud Montebourg, leaning on the desk of a stage barely raised, in the modest reception hall of the town hall.
Defender of "France without oil within 20 years"
In an atmosphere heated by several hundred supporters, Arnaud Montebourg, 58, confided "to feel the legitimacy to bring to power" the "ideas, fights and projects (which he says he has) carried in the past" and today. Hui became according to him "the center of gravity of the convictions of the French", like the fight against neoliberal globalization, or reindustrialisation and the Sixth Republic.
Calling himself a "man of the left", he nevertheless said he wanted to break free from the left-right divide: "The right-wing parties do not know how to protect you against injustices, the left-wing parties do not know how to protect you against insecurity" .
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Its "remountada" would be industrial, with public-private alliances and protectionist regulations;
ecological with a "France without oil within 20 years";
democratic with the Sixth Republic by referendum;
"territorial" in order to respond to the "fall of public services" in the countryside;
security with a "republican severity" against the "submersion of territories by delinquency" ...
Beyond his program, Arnaud Montebourg, who became an entrepreneur and producer of honey and ice cream, is starting from afar.
Without the support of a party, without troops other than the 4,500 free members of its movement "The Engagement", with polls crediting it between 2 and 5%: some on the left question the possibility that it "goes to the end" of his candidacy.
A solitary candidacy that questions
"He thinks that Emmanuel Macron knew how to do it, and therefore that anything is possible", observes Christophe Clergeau, member of the leadership of the Socialist Party.
"But it is not reasonable to approach the presidential election via a pure individual adventure. The candidates must be backed by political formations which conclude a coalition agreement".
Socialist senator Mickaël Vallet, support from the start of Arnaud Montebourg, exclaims: "So they have not learned anything from Macron? Montebourg is a man of the left, an entrepreneur, who speaks to all French people, his goal is no 'is not to talk to members ".
François Cocq, former close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, sees in the positioning of the former minister "the extension of the popular dynamic of Mélenchon in 2017", which had allowed the Insoumis to achieve 19.6% of the votes.
However, Christophe Clergeau describes an Arnaud Montebourg "closer to the PS than to LFI. He speaks of a popular bloc, not of the people against the elites".
The socialist framework hopes to rally to Anne Hidalgo in the fall.
Among the Greens, party spokesman Alain Coulombel warns: "A small-caliber campaign, without a lot of financial and activist means, we knew how to do at EELV in the past: it does not win a presidential election".
With AFP and Reuters
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