Emmanuel Macron and Renaud Muselier, LR president of the Paca region, June 24, 2019 in Marseille. – Bruno Bebert-POOL / SIPA
- The Prime Minister announced in person on Sunday that the presidential party was withdrawing its list for the regional elections in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur to merge with that of the outgoing president, LR Renaud Muselier.
- This announcement had the effect of an earthquake among The Republicans, who refuse any alliance with the party of Emmanuel Macron so as not to mortgage their chances of conquering the Elysee Palace in 2022.
- The right is in a very uncomfortable situation, and will wonder about the advisability of presenting a new list in Paca during several meetings of its governing bodies on Tuesday.
The weekend was not an easy one on the right. The announcement of an alliance between Renaud Muselier and La République en Marche for the regional elections in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (Paca) provoked the anger and disappointment of LR executives. “The pompom is that it was announced by Prime Minister Jean Castex! “, One annoys the leadership of the party. The head of government said that macronists will integrate the list of the outgoing president. This merger has shaken the national leadership of the party, which wants to react firmly, less than a year before the presidential election.
A dilemma to be resolved
Christian Jacob had assured him to 20 minutes during a meeting in April: no agreement will be reached at regional and departmental between the right and the party of Emmanuel Macron. The boss of LR therefore reacted promptly, Sunday,
by press release. Tackling “small electoral maneuvers in Paca by Mr. Castex”, the deputy for Seine-et-Marne has decided to withdraw his LR nomination from Renaud Muselier. “It was necessary to clarify things, to say our opposition to this agreement of apparatus with the anointing of the Prime Minister”, greets Virginie Duby-Muller, vice-president of the party.
The case is however far from being settled, and the party is faced with a thorny dilemma, while several LR tenors are pushing to present a list against Renaud Muselier. “If we do and the National Rally wins the region in June, we will say that it is the fault of LR who did not play the rally”, anticipates a framework.
In the latest polls, the ex-LR Thierry Mariani, head of the list of the RN, is given at the head of the voting intentions in the first round, at about 30%, in front of the outgoing president, at 27%.
A Macron offensive
But not presenting an LR list runs the risk of seeing right-wing voters scatter between the RN lists, that of Muselier merged with LREM, and abstention, sending a bad signal within a year of the election. presidential. “If we do not react, we validate Emmanuel Macron’s strategy. He is testing in Paca what he wants to do next year, with the support of a few right-wing barons who have given up 2022 for LR, such as Muselier, Estrosi and Falco [les maires LR de Nice et de Toulon auraient œuvré à cette fusion avec LREM en Paca] », Affirms Eric Pauget. The LR deputy for Alpes-Maritimes therefore wants the party to quickly invest a new list in the region. “Otherwise, we’re dead in a year. “
The dilemma will be on the menu for a meeting of the party’s strategic committee scheduled for Tuesday morning, before a national nomination committee at the end of the day. The reflection period will in any case be short, since the lists must be submitted by May 17 at the latest. The party will also have to decide on a possible exclusion of Renaud Muselier, who nevertheless reaffirmed on Monday his “loyalty to [sa] political family ”, of which he“ will ask again for the support ”Tuesday. “By making his choice, he took leave of the de facto party, no need to launch into procedures [d’exclusion] which interest no one, swept on LCI the deputy of Hauts-de-Seine Constance Le Grip.
The risk of losing the Paca region
With this agreement, LR also fears that his chances of keeping the Paca region will diminish, while the priority set by Christian Jacob is precisely to have the outgoing executives re-elected. “This will all benefit Mariani. This alliance, that made him gain ten points, and without campaigning! », Fears Eric Pauget.
In addition to the local repercussions of this agreement, LR fears national consequences. “If, in the regions, we create confusion, it mortgages part of our chances in the presidential election”, warned the vice-president LR Damien Abad, Sunday on Radio J. Which did not prevent some LR mayors from supporting the approach of Renaud Muselier, like Jean-Luc Moudenc in Toulouse, accentuating the divisions within the right and adding to the confusion.
“We must not have the slightest collusion with LREM, even at the local level. There is a risk of losing all coherence since at the national level, we are fighting against their shortcomings on sovereign subjects, on their management of the health crisis, on their abandonment of the pension reform ”, continues Virginie Duby-Muller. He remains a few months on the right to convince voters, and loosen the stranglehold between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen.