Surrounded by Eric Ciotti and Christian Jacob, Valérie Pécresse has changed status.
On Saturday, while the crowd - political supporters and activists, elected officials and LR parliamentarians, French and foreign journalists - flocked to the headquarters of the Republicans, the president of the Île-de-France region became the right-wing candidate for the presidential election in winning the Congress of Republicans against Eric Ciotti (60.95% against 39.05%).
If the result was expected, including by his opponent, the score obtained by the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes shows that he will have to be reckoned with in the presidential campaign that is beginning.
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"Jacob put everyone around the table and no one broke dishes"
Long underestimated by some of her opponents and her political family, Valérie Pécresse, refusing to play supporting roles, showed in the campaign her determination to go to the end on a project of "
frank rupture
". “
I want to win. I assume that I have a powerful, right-wing, reforming project. I never let go
, ”she repeats. With, by his side, his solid campaign manager, Patrick Stefanini. "
Like what the old troops are always right"
, wrote the former boss of LR, Laurent Wauquiez, to Brice Hortefeux, the sarkozyste being one of the first to support the president of Île-de-France.
Valérie Pécresse must now rally the right even if, by everyone's admission, the internal campaign “
went well
”. The candidates and elected officials all paid tribute to the involvement of the party president, Christian Jacob, for the good organization of the campaign. "
He put everyone around the table and no one broke dishes
", rejoices Brice Hortefeux.
Some irritations were nevertheless heard in the home stretch, Eric Ciotti criticizing the president of LR deputies, Damien Abad - support of Xavier Bertrand then Valérie Pécresse for the second round - "
of not having respected the neutrality of our authorities
" .
Conversely, he emphasizes, Christian Jacob for the party, Bruno Retailleau for the senators and François-Xavier Bellamy for the European deputies.
"
An attitude contrary to the spirit of our group and our political family
," lamented Eric Ciotti on Twitter on Friday.
"France is on the right, she is waiting for the right to assume its ideas"
In this context, the first declarations and decisions of Valérie Pécresse will be closely observed. What place will Eric Ciotti make in the presidential campaign? The two finalists, who get along well and had the two closest projects, spoke at length on Friday. The deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes does not intend to be an elected LR among others in the device while he was the winner of the first round with 25.5% of the vote, on a line "
of right assumed
", faithful to the project by François Fillon. To make concessions on the substance to hope to rally the centrists would be in his eyes a major political fault which would annihilate any chance of victory for the right in the presidential election.
“
I am at the heart of the right. I have an assumed right-wing program, but I can bring together the social right of Xavier Bertrand, the European right of Michel Barnier, the right of public services of Philippe Juvin and the right of Eric Ciotti. I can do the synthesis
”, affirmed Valérie Pécresse Thursday evening on the set of BFMTV. She had also responded to the candidate of the RN, Marine Le Pen, who quipped on the scores close to the candidates in the first round - "
a four-quarter
" -, seeing "
a form of division
". “
As Marine Le Pen is Breton, I imagine that she likes the pound cake and (with Les Républicains) she will eat a lot of it,
” replied Valérie Pécresse.
Two statements that did not please Eric Ciotti who indicated, Friday by phone, to the candidate LR.
The deputy showing himself convinced that
the
ideological "
synthesis
" would be synonymous with defeat.
"
Today, France is on the right, she is waiting for the right to assume its ideas, a right that does, a right that meets
", agrees Valérie Pécresse who does not intend to work, for example, with the ex-LR spent with Emmanuel Macron.
Family photos to avoid resentment
From Tuesday, after a strategic advice to the Republicans, Valérie Pécresse will meet the LR parliamentarians - deputies, European deputies and senators - at the party's headquarters. On Wednesday, the four candidates beaten in the first round should meet at his side, for a lunch around Christian Jacob and Gérard Larcher, in the Senate. The opportunity to display several family photos and prevent any resentment from building up between the different campaign teams.
Unlike the 2016 campaign, all LR leaders and elected officials are keen to succeed in a successful rally, a necessary (but not sufficient) condition to win the presidential election next April.
The big presidential launch meeting, wanted by Xavier Bertrand especially during the campaign, and which was to take place on December 11 at Porte de Versailles, will nevertheless be canceled due to Covid.
Several LR federations have conveyed to headquarters their concern about a "
giant cluster
".