Christian Jacob asks Damien Abad to leave the head of the Republicans group in the National Assembly
The president of the Les Républicains (LR) party asked Damien Abad, at the center of speculation about a possible rallying to Macronie, to “resign from office” at the head of the LR group in the National Assembly.
“I asked him this morning to get out of the ambiguity” and “He asked me for additional time to wait for the composition of the government”explained in a press release Mr. Jacob, assuring that LR “could not wait for Mr. Macron’s goodwill to take it or not to take it from the government”. Mr. Abad is accused by his party of getting closer to the President of the Republic. He had informed the deputies of his camp on Tuesday that he “would clarify his situation by Friday”in view of the legislative elections, according to his entourage.
Asked about Franceinfo this morning, Christian Jacob explained that Mr. Abad had “was scolded in a group meeting at the start of the week, Monday, where the unanimity of the parliamentarians told him to clarify his position”. “We asked him to do it immediately, he asked for a forty-eight hour deadline, the forty-eight hour deadline is there now, either he joins the majority, he says it and he assumes it; if he wishes to return to government, he goes, but let things be clear; or else he remains effectively on the line which is ours. We can’t be ambiguous.”he assured.
Aged 42, Mr. Abad is the subject of speculation about a possible entry into government, in particular since his meeting in the interval between the two presidential rounds with Thierry Solère, ex-LR who has become an adviser to President Macron.
Candidate for his re-election in Ain, he spoke to the elected LR during the meeting of the parliamentary group on Tuesday noon. “He indicated that he would clarify his situation and his report to LR by Friday”, explains a relative. The presidential majority has already announced that it will not present a candidate against him in the fifth constituency of Ain for the legislative elections of June 12 and 19.
Several LR elected officials have called for a “clarification” to Damien Abad, even his resignation from the presidency of the group. LR number three, Aurélien Pradié, had criticized this type of“service offerings” and the desire to“get a beacon on the car”.