Nothing is going well for Valérie Pécresse.

After Éric Woerth, former Sarkozyist minister, it was former Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin who, on Wednesday March 2, gave his support to President Emmanuel Macron in view of the presidential election in April.

He considered that the Head of State, who has not yet formalized his candidacy, has the youth and experience necessary for the function. 

"Emmanuel Macron, in my opinion, was up to the job, I want his candidacy and I will support him," he said on the LCI channel.

"Whatever the second round, I will choose Macron". 

"For once, history gives us circumstances where youth and experience can rule," he added. 

"@EmmanuelMacron is both the youngest and the most experienced (...). He has everything to succeed in a second term."

@jpraffarin #support #5yearsmore #Macron2022 https://t.co/XuxLW1BQ2R

— Perrine Lrt (@pezlrt) March 2, 2022

Barrage on the far right 

Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who was Prime Minister between 2002 and 2005 under the presidency of Jacques Chirac, was for a long time an important figure in the UMP and then in the Les Républicains party before leaving it in 2019. That year he brought his support for the list of the presidential party LREM in the European elections. 

According to Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Republican presidential candidate, Valérie Pécresse, does not have the ability today to be a barrier to the far right and therefore, for security reasons, it is clear that those who want a dam on the far right have to vote Macron", he argued.

Valérie Pécresse in difficulty 

This week, two polling institutes gave Valérie Pécresse for the first time in fifth position, behind the Insoumis Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Eric Zemmour, and far from the Emmanuel Macron-Marine Le Pen duo, given in the lead. 

With 12% of voting intentions in an Elabe poll for BFMTV / L'Express / SFR on Monday, candidate LR was slightly ahead of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, within the margin of error (12.5%), but far enough Eric Zemmour (14%) and especially Marine Le Pen (17.5%). 

Worse, Valérie Pécresse fell to 11% in a Harris Interactive poll for Challenges.

No question, however, of being defeatist for Christian Jacob, the president of the Republicans.

"Everyone takes the survey that suits them", he swept Wednesday on the sidelines of a trip to the Agricultural Show, praising "the unparalleled solidity" of the candidate in the face of "the blows she takes" . 

With Reuters and AFP

The summary of the

France 24 week invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 app

google-play-badge_EN