There are silences that weigh heavily. In the controversies that accompanied the management of the health crisis by Emmanuel Macron, the right tried to be heard. To denounce the inadequacies of the Head of State, to restore the tarnished coat of arms of the Republicans. Several voices were raised. But according to some LR, one especially missed.
Foreshadowed internally as the party's best recourse for the next presidential election, François Baroin was very discreet in this historic moment. Thus we have seen several presidential occupy the media field - the boss of senators Bruno Retailleau, the regional heads (ex-LR) Valérie Pécresse and Xavier Bertrand - but almost never the mayor of Troyes.
"It really is a disappointment"
“We are many to find that he is absent, comments the deputy of La Manche, Philippe Gosselin. I do not know if he lost points but he lost an opportunity to gain points with more media presence and more proposals. A senior party official abounds: "It is truly a disappointment. Activists would like him to step up. »That the stamp of stentor of the president of the Association of the mayors of France (AMF) comes to hammer the eardrums of the government.
Especially since it is the mayors that the health crisis - like the yellow vests - has put in the front line. What better megaphone than this 54 year old Chiraquien? "I can't understand it. We have a sequence that shows the limits of the Jacobin state and has demonstrated the agility of mayors. Confidence has deserted the national sphere and has strengthened the local sphere… and he chooses silence! Mourned a senator LR.
"Speaking to speak makes no sense"
"Adding my voice to uncertain comments without having all the information available to those who are responsible seemed to me useless," said the person in late April in an interview with "Figaro". Ephemeral media appearance, which some have deemed too tender with the executive. “Nothing new, it's a reasoned choice on his part. In the crisis, he devoted himself to Troyes, he has an institutional role to play with the AMF. He was not going to get into the bacon of the government now ", we defend the leadership of the Republicans, whose staff is fiercely" baroinist ". “The idea is not to say hello, I exist . Speaking to speak makes no sense, ”adds his close entourage. "Between commenting on a daily basis and doing nothing, there is still space", however blows a frame.
This is the case for the inextricable tension between The Republicans, in need of incarnation, and the still troubled intentions of their potential champion. Doubt still hangs over his desire to rub himself in the presidential election, he who one day confided in a small committee: "one can be happy without being president of the Republic".
"His discretion does not reflect a decline in his will to go there, on the contrary," believes the deputy (LR) of the Alpes-Maritimes Eric Ciotti. "He no longer closes the door as before," assures a relative, who, however, fears that over time, he will pass for "a stash".
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By the way, if you hesitate to get back on the lawn too much, Baroin may well be stuck on the bench for substitutes. In the last Ifop poll for "Paris Match" on the popularity of politicians, he lost three points. Ultimately, the strategy of silence could prove cavalier.
