Eric Ciotti is not happy. The deputy LR, candidate for the presidency of the party, seized Thursday the High authority of LR to protest against the distribution to the members of “false polls” which could, according to him, “have a real impact” on the ballot. “I seized the High Authority in the face of the publication and dissemination of false polls during the presidency of the Republicans”, said on Twitter the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes, regularly presented as the favorite of the ballot whose first round will take place. December 3.
In question, a consultation made by Oser la France, the movement of the former deputy Julien Aubert today spokesperson for Bruno Retailleau, and distributed via a newsletter of the party to all members. This consultation, carried out on 2,549 LR members, gives 46% of the votes to Bruno Retailleau in the first round, 33% to Eric Ciotti and 13% to Aurélien Pradié. In the second round, Bruno Retailleau, boss of the LR senators, is given the winner.
“Maneuver”
“This false consultation devoid of any scientific value is a real maneuver to manipulate activists,” says Eric Ciotti in his letter to the president of the High Authority of LR, Henri de Beauregard, who was able to consult AFP. “By relaying this information, the Republicans accredit to our members the validity of such a consultation”, adds the deputy, who requests that an “immediate corrigendum” be sent to the activists to specify the conditions and the origin of this consultation. .
For the sake of equality, Les Républicains have decided to centralize communication by sending members a weekly newsletter compiling the information that the three candidates want to pass on. But “the party only relays and does not control what the candidates wish to communicate”, we underline at LR.
In the Retailleau camp, it is assured that it is indeed “not a survey but a consultation”, and it is emphasized that certain supporters of Eric Ciotti had not hesitated to broadcast on social networks the results of the same consultation in September, when it placed the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes in the lead. The three candidates will meet Monday evening on the LCI set for the only televised debate organized before the first round. A “grand oral” before the National Council of the party is also planned for Saturday 26 at the headquarters of LR.