France: oppose or join Macron, the LRs at the time of choice
It's time for choice for Les Républicains after the re-election of Emmanuel Macron (illustration image).
AFP/Bertrand Guay
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The election of Emmanuel Macron sounds the hour of choice for the traditional right.
The Les Républicains party recorded its third consecutive defeat in the presidential election in 2022, this time with less than 5% of the vote... And the horizon is just as gloomy for the legislative elections next June during which the LR deputies will their seats and their position as the first opposition group in the assembly.
This Tuesday the party meets its strategic council, while some elected officials are tempted to tie themselves to the majority of Emmanuel Macron.
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There would be several dozen LR deputies to think about joining Emmanuel Macron.
But how many will take the plunge?
Until now, it is mainly regional presidents and mayors who publicly defend this escape route for the right.
This is particularly the case of Franck Louvrier, mayor of La Baule, in the west of the country.
“Look, the president of the LR group seems to carry this option.
So it's not just a few isolated MPs.
What matters is to agree on the projects that we are ready to carry out together, I am thinking in particular of the pension reform.
At some point, what do we want to do for the country?
Do we want to stay on the bench or do we want to act?
»
The official line, voted by the party, is that it is fungible neither in macronism nor in lepenism.
A majority line, says MP Pierre-Henri Dumont.
“
It is a very large majority of the LR group, after which we cannot prevent each other from having personal ambitions.
But those who have personal ambitions, in this case, let them leave and look elsewhere if the grass is greener.
But let them not pollute the message of the right and the center.
In reality, an alliance with Emmanuel Macron would only offer our fellow citizens in opposition to Emmanuel Macron the far-left populism of Mr. Mélenchon or the far-right populism of Madame Le Pen.
»
Everything will undoubtedly depend on what Emmanuel Macron will propose.
His idea of a single party, launched in the first round, cooled more than one at LR.
“
We go there with a knife between our teeth, we see how many deputies we are at the end, and what we have in common
”, proposes another deputy, elected from a constituency where Marine Le Pen came close to 60% in the second round.
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French politics
France
Emmanuel Macron
Presidential France 2022