A President of the Republic must "
ease tensions
" and "
play collectively
", believes the former EU negotiator on Brexit Michel Barnier, ensuring that he is ready to lead a presidential campaign.
Read also: Can Michel Barnier save the right?
A Head of State "
must listen and ease tensions, play collectively, be a strategist and have the capacity to lead the country towards the future
", underlines the former minister and European commissioner in an interview with Ebra press group.
On his ability to lead a presidential campaign, the former Minister (Agriculture and Foreign Affairs) of Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy replies that "
yes
", he "
still has the same capacity for enthusiasm and indignation, the same strength
" than his “
very first election, as a local elected official in Savoie
”.
His interview appeared on Wednesday March 24 when the ex-LR president of the Hauts-de-France region Xavier Bertrand announced in Le Point that he would be a presidential candidate next year.
Michel Barnier also considers that the right, which is looking for a candidate for 2022, "
has a duty: to be a balancing force that the country needs, to prepare an alternative and unifying project
" and that "
for that it must first get together and play together while working with others, from the center or elsewhere
”.
Eager to "
respond
" to "
anger
" and "
popular sentiment, which should not be confused with populism
", the former negotiator considers that "
the French need both freedom and protection, which is not protectionism
”.
For him, “
we must speak to all citizens including those who are tempted to vote for the extreme right or the extreme left.
(The former president) Nicolas Sarkozy in 2007 had succeeded in doing so, bringing many of these French people back to the Republican right
”.
“
I believe it is possible and necessary again,
” he said.
