Which of Michel Barnier, Xavier Bertrand, Eric Ciotti, Philippe Juvin or Valérie Pécresse will face each other in the final, closed on Saturday?

Members have until 2:00 p.m. Thursday to vote in this first round, organized in a dematerialized manner.

Once the electronic ballot boxes have opened in the presence of a representative of each candidate, the results will be announced at 2:30 p.m. by party president Christian Jacob, during a press conference.

Place then for reactions, in the wake of discreet exchanges between the teams: the candidates will be able to leave the reserve imposed by the campaign, until 11:59 p.m. Thursday evening, the second round starting in stride.

This second round will last until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday and again, the result will be announced half an hour later at a press conference.

The candidates for the nomination LR Jonathan WALTER AFP

The in-between turns promises to be brief: "We don't want there to be blood on the walls. We don't want negotiations, knives under our throats, things have to go quickly and well, "party spokesman Gilles Platret said on BFMTV on Wednesday.

Because LR, scalded by the deadly divisions of the 2016 primary, knows that it can no longer afford the luxury of rivalry.

In 2022, either it reaches the second round, or its future as a major government party will seem compromised.

No candidate having crushed the match, the result of the first round promises to be tight.

One thing is certain: the participation will be strong, since Thursday at 6:00 p.m. it already reached 52.8%, above the record established in September, at the previous congress.

For the rest all the configurations of the second round are possible between the four "big" candidates, who each played their part in this campaign: competence for Valérie Pécresse, gathering for Xavier Bertrand, seriousness and loyalty for Michel Barnier, right-handed wing for Eric Ciotti ...

Hesitation

In recent weeks, a multitude of trips and meetings by video have enabled each candidate to meet several thousand people, and to convince supporters to take their cards from LR.

Almost 140,000 people in total can vote, a jump from the summer, even if we remain very far from the approximately 4 million voters in the open primary of 2016.

Reaching a wider audience, the candidates were also able to present their project during four televised debates, where the emphasis was placed on the themes of immigration and insecurity.

Journalists Léa Salamé (l) and Laurent Guimier during the debate between the LR candidates for the presidential nomination of 2022, in Paris on November 30, 2021 JULIEN DE ROSA AFP

During these debates, Michel Barnier, who had started the race with the status of favorite, appeared less at ease than his competitors, while Eric Ciotti and Philippe Juvin were able to win an audience.

The right remains for the moment lagging behind in the polls, behind Emmanuel Macron and the far right, even if Xavier Bertrand has a slight lead over his competitors, followed by Valérie Pécresse.

LR hopes the candidate will take off once nominated by Congress.

The uncertainty is reinforced by the fact that some seem to have waited until the last minute to make up their minds.

"I'm still hesitating with Barnier," Chantal, 71, explained Monday evening at the last meeting of Valérie Pécresse.

"I thought about it yesterday and then all night, this morning I made the decision" affirmed Wednesday Henri Formica, at the LR office in Pegomas (Alpes-Maritimes).

The five candidates (l / d): Michel Barnier, Philippe Juvin, Valérie Pécresse, Xavier Bertrand and Eric Ciotti, in Paris.

Combination photos taken on November 9, 2021 Joël SAGET AFP / Archives

Returned to the front of the stage, LR must also thwart the telescoping, while the polemicist Eric Zemmour has just declared his candidacy on Tuesday.

During their last debate on Tuesday, the LR candidates criticized the "feverishness" and the lack of "stature" of the identity polemicist, who will hold a meeting on Sunday.

LR must also convince the part of his electorate potentially tempted by macronia: Wednesday, the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi, who slammed the party door in May, joined Horizons, the movement of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (ex -LR too).

© 2021 AFP