Thierry Mariani, January 13, 2019 in Paris – JACQUES DEMARTHON / AFP
- After 42 years spent in the RPR then the UMP, Thierry Mariani says he “joined Marine Le Pen in 2019 because [LR est] in full swing ”. He said he presented himself to the regional “with the friendly support” of the president of the RN.
- Placed at the head of the first round according to several polling institutes, he would however be preceded in the second round by his former friend, Renaud Muselier, outgoing LR president of the Paca region.
His inauguration seemed imminent. It is therefore now confirmed. Former Sarkozy Minister of Transport Thierry Mariani, now RN MEP, confirmed Thursday that he would wear the colors of the National Rally for the regional elections in June in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (Paca). “I’m going because I think I will assume it”, he announced daily Provence.
The name of Thierry Mariani, 62, had been circulating for several months to take the head of the RN en Paca list where several polling institutes placed him at the top of the first round. However, he would be preceded in the second round by his former friend, Renaud Muselier, outgoing LR president of the region who will soon formalize his candidacy.
“100% agree with Le Pen on sovereign matters”
Asked about this competition with Renaud Muselier who succeeded Christian Estrosi at the head of the region, Thierry Mariani considered that the two men were now his “competitors, not [ses] enemies ”. Thierry Mariani himself led the UMP list in the region in 2010. “The campaign will be firm but very correct personally. We like each other but we will try to win the match, ”he said.
Defending himself of having “started a career as a weather vane at the age of 60”, after 42 years in the RPR, which became UMP then LR, he says he reproaches his former party for having become “a cartel of elected officials”, a “prayer wheel Tibetan ”with“ the same broken record for twenty years ”.
“I joined Marine Le Pen in 2019 because they are in full swing”, justifies the MEP who says to present himself “with the friendly support” of the president of the RN with whom he is “100% in agreement on sovereign subjects ”, immigration, security, justice and Europe. “I had differences on the economic plan” but “his program is refined”, it is “more and more realistic”, he says.
“The Republican Front is no longer credible”
Asked about the outstretched hand of Christophe Castaner, boss of LREM deputies, refused in the first round by Renaud Muselier, Thierry Mariani quipped: “everyone has understood that they will get along”. “Their problem is how to get closer without getting caught by the voters,” he says.
As for the left, in search of an agreement of union, the candidate of the RN wants “that it makes a single list” and participates if necessary in a triangular in the second round. “It is normal that there is a sensitivity of the left to the region, especially since it has taken over cities like Marseille”, judges the elected representative for whom “the Republican Front is no longer credible”.