Valérie Pécresse, alone on stage, standing in front of three large blue, white and red tarpaulins.

The message is clear: the candidate Les Républicains in the presidential election wanted, Sunday, February 13, at the Zenith of Paris, for her first major campaign meeting, to embody France.

He was criticized internally for spending too much time on his proposals in his media interventions, for giving too much in the technical discourse, for not exposing his vision of the country enough and for not sufficiently inspiring the right-wing electorate.

So Valérie Pécresse tried to correct the situation and convey emotion, a little less than two months before the first round of the presidential election (April 10).

>> To see: Presidential 2022: who are the candidates?

"I want to bring new hope. That of a new France that we must rebuild together. France, because our country is eternal. New, because our history remains to be written. New France, because it is she who feeds on her roots and which gives itself wings. The France of the cathedrals and that of the satellites. The France of Péguy and that of Marie Curie. The France which assumes itself and which reinvents itself. This is my France!", she said launched to the 7,000 people gathered in the hall of the Zénith, in the north-east of Paris.

Finally !

We had to wait 20 minutes between the announcement of the arrival of @vpecresse and his actual rise on stage.

#PecresseZenith pic.twitter.com/tymQjRAvNm

— Romain Brunet (@romain2dc) February 13, 2022

But Valérie Pécresse above all drew the portrait of a France to be rebuilt and whose sovereignty would be threatened.

"Will we be a united nation or a fragmented nation? Faced with these vital questions, there is no inevitability. Neither the great downgrading nor the great replacement," she said, once again taking up the conspiracy theory. worn since the start of the campaign by the far-right candidate Éric Zemmour (Reconquest!).

Identity, secularism, industry, education, health, borders, France's weight internationally: for the president of the Île-de-France region, everything has to be rebuilt.

The candidate LR, however, insisted on the values ​​dear to the right which are merit, freedom and the value of work, evoking the "beautiful intuition" of former President Nicolas Sarkozy on "working more to earn more".

The support of Nicolas Sarkozy expected

A reference anything but trivial at the end of a delicate week.

marked in particular by the departure of several personalities from his camp.

Former minister Éric Woerth, a figure of the right-wing party, announced on Wednesday that he supported Emmanuel Macron, as did the mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart and the former secretary of state Nora Berra.

There were also comments on Thursday by the former Keeper of the Seals, Rachida Dati, who crushed Valérie Pécresse's campaign manager, Patrick Stefanini, calling him a "loser" and a "deserter".

>> To read: Presidential: Valérie Précresse welcomes a "conversation between friends" with Nicolas Sarkozy

Finally and above all, remarks attributed to Nicolas Sarkozy in an article in Le Figaro have fueled speculation: "Valérie is going all over the place", "she is non-existent" and "didn't understand anything about the countryside", "he doesn't there is no dynamic.

A meeting took place on Friday with the former head of state, but the latter has still not given his official support and seems determined to be desired.

At the Zenith, however, LR activists remained convinced that Nicolas Sarkozy would remain loyal to his political family.

"It doesn't matter if his support comes later in the campaign, the important thing is that he speaks out to bring back voters who have left for Emmanuel Macron or to convince voters who are still hesitant", judge Arnaud, 52, who had Valérie Pécresse as a teacher when he was a student at Sciences-Po.

"The support of Nicolas Sarkozy will be important to bring back voters who have gone to Macron", judge Arnaud, 52, present at the meeting of @vpecresse #PecresseZenith pic.twitter.com/cO5FV7GhhL

— Romain Brunet (@romain2dc) February 13, 2022

This Parisian meeting would have been a great opportunity to show the support of the former president, but Valérie Pécresse had to do without.

So failing to get Nicolas Sarkozy on stage, it was all the personalities of the Les Républicains party who were present in the front rows: the boss of LR, Christian Jacob, of course, but also, the president of the Senate Gérard Larcher , the vice-president of the National Assembly Annie Genevard, the leader of the LR group in the Senate Bruno Retailleau, his counterpart from the Palais Bourbon Damien Abad, the former boss of the party Laurent Wauquiez, the head of the European list Françoios-Xavier Bellamy , former minister François Baroin and even Rachida Dati – however seated at a good distance from Patrick Stefanini.

Party unity displayed

The family photo was beautiful, but instructions had been given not to steal the show from Valérie Pécresse.

Thus, the losers of the LR primary – Philippe Juvin, Xavier Bertrand, Michel Barnier, Éric Ciotti – all took the microphone before the arrival of the candidate to address the Zenith in turn.

But they had to stay at the foot of the stage.

On the other hand, the stage is reserved for @vpecresse: the LR figures have been asked to stay downstairs, just in front of the stage #PecresseZenith pic.twitter.com/u0BKjTElc0

— Romain Brunet (@romain2dc) February 13, 2022

All played the game. All wanted to show the unity of the Republicans behind their candidate and minimize the defections of the week.

"It doesn't matter. It's not because a small handful of individuals are leaving that our mobilization will stop. We are standing up," insists Hamza, 46, an elected official from Caluire-et-Cuire , in the suburbs of Lyon.

“No matter the defections, we remain mobilized.

We stand up, ”says Hamza, 46, present at the Paris meeting of @vpecresse #PecresseZenith pic.twitter.com/tndicCqeGy

— Romain Brunet (@romain2dc) February 13, 2022

Valérie Pécresse did not say a word on the subject, preferring to unfold her vision and, for the first time, to speak about herself.

Pushed by those around her to open up and split the armor, the president of the Île-de-France region returned at the end of the meeting to her career, her family, and her mentors in politics: Jacques Chirac, Simone Veil and Nicholas Sarkozy.

>> To read: Valérie Pécresse brandishes again the "Kärcher" dear to Sarkozy

But it is of course with France that Valérie Pécresse concluded her speech: "We are here, together, to affirm, loud and clear, that the new France is coming. The France of always and of the future. The eternal and new France which reconnects with its epic. This name of 'France', I want it to resonate again. I want it to astonish. I want it to thunder!"

The audience at the Zénith, conquered in advance, waved their tricolor flags, hoping that this meeting would give a new boost to the campaign of their champion.

Valérie Pécresse remains in the fight to access the second round of the presidential election, the polls regularly placing her in a pocket handkerchief with Marine Le Pen (National Rally) and Éric Zemmour.

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