"No need to add disorder to the confusion," said Arnaud Montebourg.

The apostle of made in France announced on Wednesday January 19 in a video that he was withdrawing "from the presidential race", and that he would not support "any candidate", having "failed to unite in a common program (his) candidacy for other candidacies" from the left. 

In a video showing him walking on the heights of the Bibracte site (Saône-et-Loire), he explains: "The time has therefore come for me, as a free man, absolutely free, (...) to tell you that I made the decision to withdraw from the presidential race".

He was credited with around 1% of voting intentions by the polls. 

Dear all, I wanted to speak today - and I alone - in front of the French who supported and encouraged my candidacy declared in Clamecy on September 4th.

Sincerely yours.

pic.twitter.com/I6bmgawTxA

— ☰ Arnaud Montebourg (@montebourg) January 19, 2022

No need to "add clutter to the confusion"

He judges "useless and hopeless to add disorder to the confusion of too many candidates", and specifies that he has decided "not to support any candidate", since his proposals made in the campaign "are not shared".

With his withdrawal, there are now still five candidates on the left for the presidential election. 

"In my soul and conscience, I do not wish to participate in the devaluation of the democracy that we need to build the future", further justifies the former socialist minister, who launched in September without the support of a party. . 

“During these four months of campaigning, I defended original, innovative, proactive proposals,” he recalls, claiming to have placed “economic and social solutions at the forefront”. 

He cites "the rise in wages", "a policy of made in France XXL", the exit from oil by relying on nuclear power", "the restoration of a reasonable share of national sovereignty" in the face of Europe, or even "the return to the land to help the French leave the metropolises", "an intransigent vision of the Republic" and "a demanding policy of immigration". 

A new social and political compromise 

"These proposals allowed us to imagine a new social and political compromise, capable of reviving our country", but "unfortunately they were not heard", he laments. 

"The main thing is that these ideas continue on their way and that they finally come to power and come to fruition," he adds, concluding his message of more than three minutes with a "see you soon". 

Noting that neither his candidacy (given between 0.5 and 2% of voting intentions) nor those of the left took off in the polls, Mr. Montebourg had affirmed in December that he was ready to put his own at the service of a common candidacy on the left. 

But the negotiations initiated for several days with the communist Fabien Roussel and Christiane Taubira have yielded nothing and this in a "definitive" way, said Tuesday relatives of Arnaud Montebourg. 

With AFP

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