Change of party and change of role.
The ex-LR president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Paca) region Renaud Muselier has joined the Renaissance presidential party, the Region said on Tuesday, confirming information from the regional dailies La Provence and Var Matin.
Renaud Muselier had already called for voting for Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election in February, after leaving Les Républicains in November 2021, accusing the party of drifting to the far right.
"He made the choice to join the Renaissance party," said another source within Mr. Muselier's entourage, indicating that he would be part of the executive office of this formation.
“He had let it be known that he would not remain absent from the national scene, that he was watching the political recomposition after the presidential election with great attention,” continued this source.
No passage at Horizons
In October, Renaud Muselier denounced "a race to the far right" of his former LR party and openly criticized the party's presidential candidate Éric Ciotti, arguing that he had established a "political system of pressure and threats in the Alpes-Maritimes.
He had won the presidency of the Region in June 2021 by largely beating the RN candidate Thierry Mariani, himself a former member of the Republicans.
Renaud Muselier had set two criteria for his choice of party: "no compromise with the extremes and no presidential stable", supported his entourage.
He thus preferred Renaissance to Horizons, the party of Edouard Philippe, also a member of the presidential majority.
Within Renaissance, Renaud Muselier wishes "to make the voice of the territories heard and to defend the interests, the priorities of his region" but "he does not want to enter into a national debate".
Renaud Muselier had also launched in July a regional party called "Cap sur l'avenir - Our territories first", calling for the gathering of all "the democratic and republican arc" after legislative elections where the far right won half of the constituencies in this region of southern France.
This party “continues to exist”, assured those around him.
