Emmanuel Macron and Elisabeth Borne can count on the troops of Edouard Philippe. “Horizons is and will remain a member of the majority” but this majority “could work better” declared Saturday the former Prime Minister during the first congress of his party.
More than 3,000 people were present in the large hall of the Parc Floral de Vincennes to listen to the river speech of the former head of government, whose party (20,000 claimed members) held its first congress since its founding in Le Havre in October 2021. the challenge of the pension reform, the security situation and the difficulties in transport, “we have not given up holding this first congress”, explained Edouard Philippe.
Unity therapy for the majority
But if the crowd was at the rendezvous, the program had been somewhat revised: exit the eloquence contest reserved for young people in the party and the subjects that were too light. Instead, a kind of unity therapy for a strained majority, in the presence of Elisabeth Borne who assured that she would “not give up convincing”.
And the party of the right wing of the majority will be there, assured Edouard Philippe. “Horizons is a member of the parliamentary majority, a full member of the majority” and “determined that this majority can govern and take the decisions that are necessary for our country”, he launched from the scene. central. Message sent to “those who doubt and who chew their resentment, those who like to put disproportionate lenses on the slightest little gap or the slightest little difference” within the majority.
Tensions between Horizons and Renaissance
A necessary precision after a few episodes of tension between Horizons and the presidential Renaissance party, in particular illustrated by the rejection of a bill on recidivism carried by the Philippine deputy Naïma Moutchou.
This majority “can work better”, nevertheless added Edouard Philippe. An observation shared by François Bayrou, who assured of the “solidarity” of the MoDem by adding that “this ideal (had) been for the moment only unequally respected”. “If we divide, if we start this precious unity, it is the RN that will emerge strengthened, it is the Nupes that we will consolidate”, also warned the secretary general of Renaissance, Stéphane Séjourné. .
Edouard Philippe therefore pleaded the “absolute need to organize the central bloc”, including with “partners who do not want to be associated with the majority”, among Les Républicains who were ready to vote for the pension reform, but also among the “social democrats” who do not find themselves in the Nupes dominated by La France insoumise. Otherwise, warned the mayor of Le Havre, France risks finding itself in “total ungovernability” and “absolute conflictuality”.