Presidential: these two methods considered by LR to choose his candidate

Europe 1 with AFP 4:50 p.m., September 14, 2021

The Republicans will offer their militants two methods - congress or primary - to choose their presidential candidate, LR president Christian Jacob said on Tuesday.

LR will bring together its members on September 25 for a dematerialized congress, where they will be called upon to choose between "two methods of designation", explained the boss of the Republicans in a message to the militants.

The first would be "a system open to activists, up-to-date membership and sympathizers who identify with the values ​​of the right and the center," he then explained to journalists.

82,000 up-to-date members

This system is similar to the primary, despite the reluctance of LR management, and it is equipped with "safeguards": the vote will require prior registration and voters will have to accept that the file can be reused later, specifies- we at the party.

Second option: organize "a congress of up-to-date activists who will nominate the candidate", according to Christian Jacob.

LR, which had 82,000 members at the end of August, is working on the exact calendar and on the modalities of the vote, in particular on the electorate, to see "if it is opened to certain parties which would request it" such as the UDI or the Centrists for example, we explain to the party.

Bertrand meets LR activists

The choice will be between the candidates who will have gathered 250 sponsorships, with the end of November beginning of December, which is "the calendar of the previous presidential ones", explains Annie Genevard, number 2 of LR. The congress is "what has prevailed in the past," recalls party secretary general Aurélien Pradié, who hopes to see "an obvious candidate" emerge by the time the vote is taken. LR's political bureau, which will meet on September 22, has yet to ratify these provisions, before the electronic congress scheduled for 25.

Seven months before the presidential election, the right must settle the thorny question of its candidate, while Xavier Bertrand, who refuses any primary, has been in the race since March. The idea of ​​a tie-break is however accepted by four other potential contenders - Valérie Pécresse (ex-LR), Michel Barnier, Éric Ciotti and Philippe Juvin. Xavier Bertrand, who left LR in 2017, leads the polls on the right but he does not crush the match. "I will never lose my camp," he repeated to

Tuesday, assuring that he would go "from September to meet LR members to expose (his) project".