Since the heavy defeat of Valérie Pécresse in the presidential election, questioning the place to be given to Nicolas Sarkozy is less and less a taboo at LR.

The secretary general of the Republicans Aurélien Pradié thus calls for "breaking with Sarkozyism" and rebuilding a "popular right", in an interview with Le

Point

published on Saturday.

“What I learned the most from Nicolas Sarkozy was the meaning of rupture.

It was his desire to break with chiraquism that enabled him to succeed.

I'm sure he won't blame me for saying that today we have to break with Sarkozyism,” says the party's number three.

LR in full “revolution”

“Since 2012, the French right has been weighed down by the weight of all those who had failed at different electoral deadlines.

It's time to cut the cords, "he adds, saying to himself" certain that we will, suddenly, breathe better ".

Above all, according to Aurélien Pradié, “a right of inventory on the right is necessary”.

"When your party achieves a score of less than 5% in the presidential election, we are no longer in simple adjustments, we are in the revolution", he adds, referring to the score of 4.8% by Valerie Pécresse.

He also believes that "the time has come for our political family to become a popular right again" because "the history of the French right, since General de Gaulle, has always been to take an interest in the social question before the concern for identity which is a “mistake” according to him.

In this approach "the young guard can be useful" he believes, ensuring that "it is not a battle of generations".

"Choosing a leader will come in due time", adds Aurélien Pradié for whom "there is still a lesson in all this: to end the system of primaries", by which LR had appointed its presidential candidate in December latest.

While LR officially launched its campaign for the legislative elections on Saturday, Aurélien Pradié also castigates the "cowardice" of his colleagues who joined Emmanuel Macron, like Eric Woerth, or showed themselves ready to do so, like Guillaume Larrivé.

“Someone who betrays is a traitor, someone who denies his convictions is a political opportunist,” he says.

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  • Nicolas Sarkozy

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  • The Republicans (LR)

  • Legislative elections 2022

  • Presidential election 2022