“The press, do you already have results? At 7.45 p.m., concern grew at the Republican National Headquarters, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. Gérard, a 75-year-old activist, evokes the vertiginous abstention (around 65%) in the second round of the regional this Sunday – “some preferred to go fishing” – and discusses the “good years” of the right. “There is no longer a captain today… Not since Nicolas Sarkozy, even Jacques Chirac… Pierre Messmer do you know? “No time to talk about our (very rare) knowledge of Prime Minister Pompidou, the agitation wins the room. It is 8 pm, the little fifty activists have their eyes riveted on the two TVs at the end of the room.
Hauts-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Pays-de-la-Loire, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur… On the screens, seven out of thirteen regions are displayed in blue. The right keeps its bastions and consolidates them, often with very large scores. Bravo! »Accompany the photos of each winner. “It’s a great night. Le Pen and the left had to be crushed, it’s done, that’s the main thing, ”breathes Edith, almost forgetting the five regions also preserved by the Socialist Party. “Christian Jacob, it’s not really my cup of tea, but it must be said that he does a good job,” adds the activist. On the set of France 2, the president of the party all smiles evokes the good results of the evening.
The contenders’ match for 2022 already launched
Silence wins the room. On screen, Xavier Bertrand is the first to speak, after his landslide victory in the north of the country (with 52 to 53% of the vote). “The National Rally was shut down and we pushed it back,” he said. “This result gives me the strength to go out and meet all French people to straighten out our country,” adds the now presidential candidate. Edith continues: “He’s an ambitious Bertrand, a bulldozer. He’s been aiming for the Elysee for years, but he has to be careful. Bertrand is La Fontaine’s hare, he left very quickly, but the turtle can win. Others at LR could beat him at the end ”.
All results municipality by municipality
Moreover, in the wake, Laurent Wauquiez then Valérie Pécresse, re-elected in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Ile-de-France take the floor. The two also stress that they have pushed back the party of Marine Le Pen, as if not to leave a single meter in advance to their colleague from Hauts-de-France. “Everyone will try to play their card, and they would be wrong not to. But the objective is to have a common right, it is the will of the party and the militants. Otherwise everyone will lose. But I trust Jacob for the future, ”says Victor, 26 years old.
“It opens up great prospects for the presidential election”
Here is precisely the Chiraquien who arrives, in flesh and blood this time, under the cheers of the militants. “For us this evening, it is a real evening of celebration, which prepares others, I am sure of it”, launches Christian Jacob. “It opens up great prospects for the presidential election. They will have to be prepared with the same seriousness. Take the time for in-depth work, to come together. And in November, there will have to be only one candidate from our political family. This is how we will win. We will do it not in a rush, but according to the established schedule, ”warns the boss of the right. The party will launch polls to try to identify a candidate in November. An option that leaves some activists present doubtful.
“There are three favorites, but also other possible ones like François Baroin or Michel Barnier. There are a lot of people at the gate, but there is only one seat and no one is unanimous. That’s why we have to get the activists to vote, ”continues Gérard. Nicole, her neighbor, nods. “Bertrand, he rushes because he is not LR. Besides, he slams the party door and now comes back saying he needs us? It’s kinda easy. It’s up to us, the members, not two or three people behind the scenes. “