Renaud Muselier launched his campaign Wednesday evening in Marseille against the backdrop of a political storm on the right.
The strategy of the outgoing president, whose candidacy is supported by The Republicans, is strongly criticized by those who fear a regional alliance with the Marchers.
Some suspect him of wanting to make an agreement with Sophie Cluzel, LREM candidate, from the first round.
After having discussed at length the "
concrete
" record of its regional majority, Muselier estimated that the action carried out by the region since 2015 had been carried out with "
a majority made up of eight different labels
". "
My spine is my region,
" insisted the elected official who had used the same formula a few days earlier to defend his anchoring on the right and within the Republicans.
Wednesday evening, he largely took up the argument of a first press release published the day before. "
I am a man of the right and of the center, who knows how to add and bring together ... I am a man from the South, I speak with everyone, I work with reasonable people, I know how to federate energies
", he had recalled before adding a message, already understood as a reply: "
The simplistic slogans, the permanent caricature, or the stepping stone for the presidential campaign of Marine Le Pen will not take the fate of five million inhabitants hostage
".
Wednesday evening, Muselier noted an "
atmosphere, an impatience, a form of nervousness
" before estimating that it took "
coolness
" to lead a team. "
The pressure is strong, the pressures are multiple,
" he added, before specifying that the filing of his list will be recorded on May 17, the closing date for applications: "
The lists are not made. You will therefore have suspense, twists and turns, rumors ... But I already hear too many people saying things without knowing or even worse, making believe that they know something
”. Then Renaud Muselier hammered: “I
am LR. I will come out of the shackles of political apparatus. So, I say it, I repeat it. There will be no deal
device ”.
This last precision is precisely the central subject of the controversy because those who fear a first-round alliance with LREM deem this strategy doubly losing. On the one hand, they consider that this would pose a risk of coherence for the LR party which wants to place itself in opposition to Macron in the perspective of the presidential election. On the other hand, they believe that such a local alliance can scare voters away towards the National Gathering of Thierry Mariani. The subject ignited the clashes on the right on social networks while the LR party is expected to raise the issue in strategic advice on Tuesday.
Éric Ciotti, deputy for Alpes-Maritimes, promised "
defeat
" and "
dishonor
" to Renaud Muselier, if he were to enter into such an alliance with the LREM candidate. The person concerned replied that they did not share the same conception of the right. David Lisnard, mayor of Cannes underlined the “
duty to propose a clear alternative
”. While Bruno Retailleau's side, we fear “
unnatural
”
announcements
seeing a risk
of
political “
inconsistency
” for a party that would hold a double discourse, in Paris and in the region. We are also convinced that an erasure of the En Marche en Paca list would be "
flagrant proof
" of a device agreement. "
If there is no longer an LREM list, it will be a casus belli because it will prove that Muselier has come to an understanding with Guerini and Macron,
”warns a close relative of Retailleau.
Éric Pauget, deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes, joined the concert of critics by adding: “
In politics, before allying with his adversaries, one gathers his own family.
We are not taking the right path.
Fear is always a bad counselor
”.
Faced with the attacks, Renaud Muselier rose to the bow of his regional boat on Wednesday evening, recalling that the quality of a captain was measured in “
storms
”.
He is there.
But as he says himself: “L
ists are not made
”.