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Stanislas Guerini: "The French elected us to overcome the divisions, not to recreate them"

2020-05-31T20:12:32.953Z


The General Delegate of En Marche speaks while the majority is going through a difficult situation with the appearance of divisions in the Ass


While the tabling of the lists for the second round of municipal elections is looming on Tuesday, and negotiations are continuing behind the scenes, the question of alliances is agitating minds within La République en Marche (LREM). Especially since that, in Lyon, of Gérard Collomb with relatives of Laurent Wauquiez has caused trouble. With the Parisian - Today in France, Stanislas Guerini sets his “red line”: “No alliances at any cost. "

He reveals that Rachida Dati wanted a global agreement in Paris that he and Agnes Buzyn refused. He also announces that LREM drops the election in Lyon where the presidential party will not invest a new candidate after the departure of Gérard Collomb. Finally on the national level he considers that the ecologist Yannick Jadot is welcome to work with the majority in a gathering project.

Most of the LREM candidates arrived third or fourth in the first round of the municipal elections. How do you explain this failure?

STANISLAS GUERINI. Municipal elections are by nature favorable to leavers. And the health context has not helped to upset the established order. The first round was therefore not good for LREM. But in bad weather, you have to know how to keep your nerves and your course. Our ambitions have not changed. We will have strengthened ties with hundreds of mayors, left and right, whom we want to help get re-elected. And tomorrow we will have 10,000 municipal elected officials, even more, in accordance with our objective. When you start from zero or almost, it is not negligible. This generation of walkers will grow and produce excellent mayors tomorrow.

Do you have a national alliance strategy for the second round?

We have a national priority which is to do everything to prevent the National Rally from winning. Wherever there is a risk of this happening, we will withdraw as in Perpignan. The second priority is to bring our family together. It is time to put an end to the quarrels that may have separated us locally. You have to be up to the moment. It is true within the LREM family, it is true for all components of the presidential majority. And above all, I have a red line: stay true to our values. We will not make alliances at any cost. Sometimes I prefer to be in opposition, but to build over time a political force consistent with our values, than to win a city. Going beyond is not the erasure of our convictions.

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It is clearly a local failure, but above all it is the very strong assertion that our values ​​are more important than a victory or a defeat.

Is there still a chance that LREM will be represented by a list in Lyon?

No. We prefer to withdraw from this election.

Do you regret having given in too much to Gérard Collomb?

No. There was a logic in trusting Gérard Collomb. He was one of those with whom it all started for En Marche, he was a great mayor of Lyon. This trust has been betrayed. But I have no regrets.

"In Paris, as elsewhere, I want to end family quarrels," says Stanislas Guerini./REUTERS/Thomas Coex  

Why did Agnès Buzyn hesitate to embark on the second round of municipal elections in Paris?

Because she took the time to think, to consult our collective and to be certain that she would be a strength and an asset. She knows very well that she is going to be attacked and she never wanted to weaken our desire to carry out a different project.

Did you feel betrayed when she spoke of the first round as a "masquerade" and seemed to point to the responsibility of the government? Isn't it inconsistent that she wears your colors after that?

No, because she regretted her words. At that time, I called her and I immediately understood her state of mind. We were fighting against a part of the political class, who wanted to continue this election and submit lists for the second round. It was totally out of step with the health situation we were experiencing.

Why did you not want to take up the torch?

I am not one of those who turn their backs on difficulties, but Agnès Buzyn took responsibility when her political family needed her. Once she did, I didn't ask myself that question for a second.

If, in Paris, LREM list leaders were to form alliances with LR candidates, would they also be divested?

There is no agreement today. In the 5th arrondissement, Florence Berthout, who is an excellent mayor, was left free to rally behind her. But in reality, Rachida Dati wanted a much broader deal. Agnes Buzyn and I told her this week, very clearly, that we did not want this agreement. We have respect for Rachida Dati, but she does not embody our progressive ideas.

Cédric Villani chats with you, but also with Anne Hidalgo. Do you still hope to win him over to Agnès Buzyn's candidacy?

In Paris, as elsewhere, I wish to put an end to family quarrels. Agnes Buzyn and I told her: "Let's get together". We will live up to this responsibility. We hope that Cédric Villani will be up to his own (Editor's note: the deputy candidate for mayor of Paris would however be determined not to make an alliance with either Anne Hidalgo or with Agnès Buzyn) .

In Bordeaux, Thomas Cazenave discusses with the right. But in Grenoble, Emilie Chalas reaches out to the socialists. In Marseille, Yvon Berland says he talks with everyone. In Tours, you talk to the Radical Party. Where do you live ?

Very clearly, in the progressive family. If LREM is the only 100% progressive movement, 100% of progressives are not at LREM. It is the only compass for our candidates when they talk to other political forces.

At the risk of lack of legibility for your voters?

We assume this risk: our values ​​come before electoral marketing. The municipal election is not that of partisan labels. Voters have long since abandoned this line of reasoning.

Emmanuel Macron was elected on overcoming divides. However, they reappear with the creation of the 9th and 10th groups. How do you explain this disintegration of the majority?

These initiatives seem to me to go against the 2017 election. The French elected us to overcome the divisions, not to recreate them! I will be very careful not to give in to the facilities which have led the traditional parties to their ruin.

PODCAST. Discomfort among LREM deputies how disillusionment was born

At a time when the president is thinking about an overhaul of his policy, how do you see the future of the majority and the party?

We must take into account all of our sensitivities without falling into the currents. The time has come to intensify relations between the different forces that make up the presidential majority. And to be more open than ever to all the forces of the country, to build a project of harmony around priorities which are, for me, social issues, the environment and employment.

You regularly mention the environmental issue. Do you plan to work Yannick Jadot?

It does not depend on us but on him: if he wishes to join a gathering project, in the service of the environmental transformation of our country, he is welcome for me.

Source: leparis

All news articles on 2020-05-31

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