An end of inadmissibility, almost a snub for Emmanuel Macron. By inviting Cédric Villani this Sunday evening in his office at the Elysée for a frank explanation on his dissident candidacy in Paris, the head of state perhaps hoped to whistle the end of recess. Or at least put some oil in the cogs to facilitate a rapprochement with the official candidate of the running Republic, Benjamin Griveaux. But after an hour, and despite "a conversation which as always with the President of the Republic was pleasant", dixit Villani at the exit, on the contrary it aggravated the rupture.
"Today, I act a major divergence, thundered the famous mathematician. Between belonging to a political apparatus and the commitment to the city that made me, I choose to remain loyal to Parisians by maintaining my candidacy freely […] My campaign continues with complete independence ”. In short, the dissident will continue to walk despite the pressure.
Should we understand between the lines that he could quickly return his party card? "We will not give them this gift," reacts a little cynical a close friend of Cédric Villani, preferring to put Stanislas Guérini, the general delegate of LREM, in an impossible position: to exclude the deputy from Essonne at the risk of victimizing him and divide, or allow it to rebound and admit a lack of authority.
"A disgraceful disrespect"
The mediation of Emmanuel Macron has in any case failed. "Villani definitely broke up with the president tonight and demonstrated that it was only a matter of ego. He behaves with a disgraceful lack of respect, ”said a minister this Sunday evening. It was by a text message sent on Saturday afternoon to the winner of the 2010 Fields medal, the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for mathematics, that the Head of State proposed this meeting at the Palace on Sunday at 5 p.m.
According to our information, Villani appeared before him with five scenarios on the table ... including that of a possible withdrawal. But the exchange quickly turned on ecological subjects ... with a statement of disagreement. “Of all the ideas put on the table during this campaign, that of the climate coalition (Editor's note: proposal for an alliance formulated by the ecological candidate David Belliard) is more than necessary to open a new era. I do not believe that it is possible today to achieve it by only discussing within a party, ”explained Cédric Villani during his short exit speech. For weeks, the member for Essonne has been multiplying calls from the ground to Belliard, the leader of the Greens in the capital.
Emmanuel Macron's commitment to defend Benjamin Griveaux
The President of the Republic has on the contrary argued that if he allies with Benjamin Griveaux, the chances of winning Paris and carrying his ideas were stronger thanks to the addition of votes. Before leaving, he even asked him to get closer to his rival "to converge their two projects in a spirit of unity and unity". "But politics is dynamics, not arithmetic," recalls the mathematician Villani. “If we look at the possible carryover of votes in the second round, Cédric is the only one who can attract environmentalists and progressives. The only one able to form a coalition with people from the center left or center right. All the others, including Rachida Dati, will only serve to re-elect Anne Hidalgo ”, decrypts Rayan Nezzar, his spokesperson.
Still, this mini-drama within the macronie will have at least allowed a clarification: that of the commitment of Emmanuel Macron to defend Benjamin Griveaux. In recent days, the two men have exchanged several times. Especially Friday evening at the Elysée, on the sidelines of a decoration award to Christian Le Lann, star of Parisian butchers and candidate on the Griveaux list in the XXth arrondissement. The opportunity for the president to "salute his commitment alongside Benjamin" - with whom he discussed for several minutes aside - and even to "reiterate his friendship" publicly, according to a participant. An ostensible support, failing to have been able to clear the fratricidal war of the two Parisian Walkers.