Last straight line for the five candidates of the Republicans, this Tuesday evening, with the final debate, before a congress which must designate, on December 4, the candidate of the right-wing party for the presidential election of 2022. This Tuesday evening, Michel Barnier, Xavier Bertrand, Eric Ciotti, Philipp Juvin and Valérie Pécresse will meet for a fourth and final debate from 9 p.m. on France Inter and France 2 as part of the Elysée 2022 program.
The party will then open a congress to nominate its 2022 presidential candidate, after a brief but intense campaign heavily focused on security and immigration. The name of the winner will be known on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The ballot, electronic, will be held in two rounds: the first from Wednesday 8 am to Thursday 2 pm and the second from Friday 8 am to Saturday 2 pm (the majority of federations will also have a physical voting point in support). A press conference will follow at 2:30 p.m. each time.
On the practical side, the party has done everything to secure the process, entrusted to the Neovote platform: “Each voter must provide a mobile number, an email address and a postal address to be able to vote”, recalled the president of LR Christian Jacob in the JDD. The poll promises to be particularly uncertain, in the absence of polls and a clear favorite and while the number of members has jumped since September, with 140,000 of them who will be able to vote in Congress. The winner will anyway hold a big meeting on December 11 at Porte de Versailles, with 5,000 people hoped for by the party to “launch the mobilization” around the candidate.
Meetings and trips
Michel Barnier, on a line of seriousness and appeasement, hopes that his loyalty and his international stature will pay off. Favorite of national polls, Xavier Bertrand relies on the authority-territories-work triptych to erase his distance from the party. Just like Valérie Pécresse who pugnaciously promises “order”, regal and economic, with a specific program in support. The hard line of Eric Ciotti could seduce the most radical at LR while Philippe Juvin promises a right of public services.
To defend these programs, the candidates have increased the number of trips as the deadline approaches: Michel Barnier held his last campaign meeting on Sunday in his Savoy, Aix-les-Bains, and his competitors were to do the same on Monday evening : in Boulogne-Billancourt for Valérie Pécresse, Rilleux-la-Pape (Rhône) for Xavier Bertrand, Versailles for Eric Ciotti and Paris for Philippe Juvin. Each had previously carried out a marathon of trips, from federation to village hall – up to 80 for some – allowing them according to their calculations to meet up to 15,000 people. This campaign, condensed over a few weeks, brought back to the forefront an LR party recovering from its electoral routs, presidential and then European.
“Leadership”
“The right has taken over the leadership! “Assures Christian Jacob who wishes” that the discussions of the French Christmas meal revolve around our candidate “. The right-wing candidate remains behind in the polls for the presidential election, behind Emmanuel Macron and the far right, but LR hopes that a dynamic will kick in from January with the nomination of the candidate. The party has already worked to occupy the field despite media competition from Eric Zemmour who prolongs the suspense on his candidacy.
The identity polemicist could seduce the hard wing of LR even as the macronie calls out to the most centrist: deported to the right, the campaign for the nomination has turned a lot around the subjects of immigration and security. Blood law, minimum sentences, construction of prisons… The candidates stormed with firmness during the first three televised debates, at the risk of obscuring health, education, and even the economy.