Paris (AFP)

A program more than ego quarrels: The Republicans preferred to place their return to school under the sign of ideas, eluding the thorny question of their candidate, which however aroused strong opinions on Saturday among the young people gathered at the Parc floral in Paris for their summer universities.

"We are on the home stretch" before the presidential election, launched LR president Christian Jacob, certain that the right is in a position to win after ten years in the opposition.

More than 1,500 people were registered for these summer universities, second edition for the youth movement of LR which claims more than 10,000 members.

In the park, Michel, 21, came from Toulouse with about forty other activists: "We hope to know more about the primary, about the candidate," he says.

But the agenda was only the presidential project, with a series of round tables declining the key themes retained by LR for 2022: "protect", "liberate" and "bring together".

"The concern of the French is to know our capacity to win the election", assures the president of LR, Christian Jacob.

"They are not interested in the primary", abounds the secretary general of the party Aurélien Pradié.

The leadership of the Republicans is very reluctant to organize a primary, which they believe is synonymous with divisions, and Christian Jacob repeated this week that it would be up to the militants to decide on the method, with a congress scheduled for September 25.

Christian Jacob at LR headquarters in Paris on July 6, 2021 Alain JOCARD AFP / Archives

Highly requested by the media, three candidates who accepted the principle of a tie-breaker were invited to these round tables: Michel Barnier, Eric Ciotti and Philippe Juvin.

But it was the arrival of the fourth possible contender, Valérie Pécresse, which was the most animated in the early evening: the president of Ile-de-France, who however left LR in 2019, sparked a crowd when she strolled, alongside Christian Jacob, and surrounded by a swarm of cameras and activists asking for selfies.

Also a dissident of LR, Xavier Bertrand is the best placed in the polls, even if his advantage over Valérie Pécresse is reduced - a poll on Saturday gave him, according to a candidacy of Eric Zemmour, between 15 to 17% of votes, against 14 to 16% to its rival (and 11 to 13% for Michel Barnier).

But Xavier Bertrand intends to embark on the race for the Elysee without going through the primary - a method badly digested by young activists, very attached to loyalty to the party.

- "Machine to lose" -

"It's a shame," said 19-year-old Alya.

"He's posing as the natural candidate, but he's not."

"He takes himself for the Messiah," adds his neighbor, who is equally upset.

"Xavier Bertrand, the base does not follow," says Thomas, 21, who considers it inevitable to go through the primary because "no one emerges".

Valérie Pécresse received at TF1 on July 22, 2021, with in the background on the left the projected image of her rival Xavier Bertrand Joël SAGET AFP / Archives

The appearance of the president of the Hauts-de-France region, in a short video of the regional winners, had sparked boos during the opening - against applause for Laurent Wauquiez, and a mixed reaction for Valérie Pécresse.

"Everything is moving, it is a congress of young people", relativizes Christian Jacob.

"There were in the room a lot of young people coming from the south and Ile-de-France", reassures a support of Xavier Bertrand.

The name of Valérie Pécresse seems to pass better with these young people, many of whom plead for a primary: "She is the most likely to win, she is the least worse. That she is no longer at LR is not a problem: activism has evolved ", assures Michel who" would love Barnier to be appointed ".

"But it is a little" grandpa ", especially if opposite we have Anne Hidalgo and Marine Le Pen," he sighs.

"There will be a primary, it is necessary for the nominated candidate to gather behind him", assures Benjamin, 21 years old.

"If we wait, the risk is that Xavier Bertrand will take off. The machine to lose, we must not restart it. I'm a little afraid", explains Maxime, 22 years old.

© 2021 AFP