Xavier Bertrand is "
more determined than ever
" in the face of the challenge of the presidential election of 2022, affirms Saturday in an interview with
Parisian
the president of Hauts-de-France, scratching in passing an Emmanuel Macron according to him "
not at the 'at ease on sovereign matters
”.
"
I know one thing: I am more determined than ever,
" replies the former Sarkozy minister to a question about his intentions for 2022.
To read also: Xavier Bertrand: "Security will remain the immense bankruptcy of the five-year term"
"
I am convinced that Emmanuel Macron is not the one who will succeed in reconciling the French, nor the one who will protect the country
", he continues: "
With him, there is a real risk of victory of extremes.
I am the representative of a social right, popular, capable of bringing together, and which will always refuse the slightest compromise with the extreme right
”.
He denies in passing the ability of the President of the Republic to embody a right-wing candidacy.
"
It is not enough to have been an investment banker to be on the right
", asserts Xavier Bertrand, "
or to take a Prime Minister from the right ... If Emmanuel Macron was on the right, he would have done security of the French a priority, it would also have effectively fought against illegal immigration.
I am firmly convinced that there is no other way than the return of respect for republican authority
”.
Asked about the expected bill on separatism, he objected: “
Three and a half years lost!
The president is a great naive who has not taken the measure of these problems.
He is not comfortable with sovereign matters: security, justice, defense or respect for secularism.
He speaks of separatism because he has problems evoking communitarianism and Islamism
”.
Xavier Bertrand, who left the Les Républicains party in 2017, is a candidate for his re-election at the head of Hauts-de-France in the regional elections of March 2021.
In the Parisian, he defends his record: “
I made work the priority: just before the crisis, unemployment fell twice as fast as the national average.
On our mandate, the Proch'emploi service alone will have directly enabled the return to activity of nearly 20,000 people.
We have restored purchasing power with direct aid: transport, childcare, holiday vouchers ... by never forgetting those who work!
"