"The President of the Republic wants to be re-elected without ever having been a real candidate, without campaigning, without debate, without confrontation of ideas. All the candidates are debating except him. It's a paradox!", declared Mr. Larcher in a interview with Figaro.
For the President of the Senate, "our country fractured, indebted and facing multiple problems needs this debate".
"We are doing everything so that there is a campaign", reacted government spokesman Gabriel Attal on France 2, recalling that Emmanuel Macron must present his project on Thursday during a "three-hour" press conference. for a second five-year term.
"As soon as he can", the head of state "takes part in this campaign", he said, "but I do not hear French people asking him to desert his functions as president at a when, as we see in the news, obviously we need a president who continues to act and protect the French".
Gérard Larcher said for his part that "whatever the winner of the ballot in April, the conditions of this election will build its legitimacy".
"This legitimacy will be more than necessary in the face of the economic challenges that arise, the major risks of inflation, the tensions on purchasing power, the unaddressed questions in terms of order, security and immigration", has he continued, predicting a “very difficult” next five-year term.
"Whatever it costs cannot turn into whatever happens. It will take a five-year period of truth," he warned.
Regarding the LR candidate Valérie Pécresse, Mr. Larcher regretted that she was "the target of a form of harassment, even of + Pécresse bashing +".
Finally, questioned on the lack of position of Nicolas Sarkozy in this presidential election, the president of the Senate noted that the former president "is naturally free of his choices".
"I see that he has not chosen four weeks before the election. Valérie Pécresse is charting her course," he added.
© 2022 AFP