France, presidential 2022: the Republicans choose Valérie Pécresse

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December 04, 2021The French Republicans have chosen Valérie Pécresse as a candidate for the race for the Elysée 2022. The president of Île-de-France won the second round of the primary with 60.95% of the votes, beating challenger Eric Ciotti, deputy of Nice.

The governor joins the list of challengers who will contend with incumbent President Emmanuel Macron for the presidency, including far-right journalist Eric Zemmour, Marine Le Pen, the socialist mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and the leader of the radical left Jean-Luc Mélenchon .

The first round of the presidential elections is scheduled for 10 April.

"For the first time in history, our political family will have a female candidate in the presidential elections," Pécresse said after the results were announced. "I'll do my best, with my strength, my energy, my determination to make our opinions win." The 54-year-old governor, former Minister of Education, Public Accounts and government spokesperson under the Sarkozy presidency, has promised that, if she wins, she will turn the page compared to the Macron era without however tearing "the pages of French history". A reference to the most extreme candidates who are running for the presidency: Marine Le Pen and Zemmour, who took the field with a controversial anti-migrant and anti-Islam video.

Pécresse garnered support from other Republican challengers who missed the first round, including former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and Xavier Bertrand. But it is not certain that in the presidential elections he will get the votes of the possible voters of Ciotti, known for his proximity to the right wing of the party. Zemmour's presidential candidacy spurred the debate in the primaries on the dear right-wing issues of immigration and security.

The governor promised, if elected, to "break" with President Macron's centrist policies and said her first action as head of state would be to end the 35-hour work week to allow employees to work and earn. Moreover.

Pécresse then promoted a tough stance on immigration.

A supporter of the EU, she left the party in 2019 after the defeat in the EU elections, to return this year with the Republicans to participate in the primary.

"Today I have good news, my dear friends: the republican right is back!", Said the governor after the victory, "we will restore French pride and protect the French".