The LR president of the “Right, center and independent” group of the Lyon city council, Étienne Blanc, announced on Friday that he was terminating his functions in this group, as requested by his running mates, after comments on Eric Zemmour and the Vichy regime.
“I do not intend to allow a climate of mistrust to persist within my group.
I am therefore immediately putting an end to my function as president, ”
he said in a statement.
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His decision follows a statement released by two of the main elected officials of the municipal right, Pascal Blache, mayor (DVD) of the 6th arrondissement, and Pierre Olivier, mayor (LR) of the 2nd, affirming that his statements to the JDD were "condemned to unanimity ”within the group.
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In an interview published on Sunday, Mr. Blanc affirmed in particular that for
“70 to 80%”
of LR activists, Eric Zemmour asks the right questions:
“And opposite, you have officials who say that Zemmour is hysterizing the debate (... ) There is a hiatus, and if this is not resolved when choosing the candidate, we do not know what can happen ”.
Regarding the policy of the Vichy regime against Jews, he also said:
"Is that by signing the armistice was not given to the Jews the protection means that, for two years, allowed to flee the Nazi regime? I can't answer. ”
In his press release Friday, Mr. Blanc returns to this sentence by arguing that he is not a "historian".
And ensures that "throughout (his) political life", he
"expressed his rejection of anti-Semitism".
"This controversy bothers me
," he said while regretting having caused
"an emotion and a misunderstanding, even within"
the municipal group he chairs.
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A meeting Thursday between the elected officials of the municipal right and their president confirmed
"an irreconcilable dispute"
, especially as the statements to the JDD intervened after
"many personal initiatives which could not engage the whole group"
, according to the press release of his fellow-listers.
"We do not want to be hostages (...): our line is clear, in our group, which is also made up of centrists, nobody wants a connection with Eric Zemmour,"
Pascal Blache told AFP.
According to him,
"for some time, Étienne Blanc seems to be interested in the positioning"
of the polemicist who does not hide his presidential ambitions.
