“
I am making a personal choice: to support Xavier Bertrand.
Renaud Muselier, president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, announced this Tuesday to the
Parisian
that he is supporting Xavier Bertrand for the Republican investiture Congress, which will share the five candidates on December 4.
Freshly re-elected at the head of his region with 57.3% of the vote in the second round against the RN, the former deputy had so far left doubt on his possible rallying.
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"
I know that by voting Xavier Bertrand, I vote for a man who will never have a hand that trembles in the face of the extreme right,
" said Renaud Muselier. According to him, the president of Hauts-de-France has "
the necessary experience
", and he respects the values of the party, "
unlike some of our executives
". A hushed criticism of Eric Ciotti, who accused him in the last regional elections of being "
one of the candidates of the presidential majority
", because of the presence of fifteen macronists on his list. Renaud Muselier has since announced that he would quit the party "without hesitation" if ever Eric Ciotti were to be invested by the members.
This unequivocal rallying to an LR candidate seemed far from certain.
During the ballot of November 17 for the renewal of the presidency of the Association of Mayors of France, Renaud Muselier had decided to support Philippe Laurent, mayor (UDI) of Sceaux, deemed "
Macron-compatible
".
The latter, however, failed to win, against the mayor (LR) of Cannes, David Lisnard.
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By this support for the president of Hauts-de-France, Renaud Muselier joins LR sympathizers who are beginning to believe in the possible victory of their champion in the presidential election.
An Odoxa-Backbone Consulting poll for
Le Figaro
published last week indeed reveals that, among Republicans sympathizers, 47% consider Xavier Bertrand capable of winning the presidential election, against 30% for Michel Barnier and 16% for Valérie Pécresse. .
