Republicans in France: Pécresse becomes presidential candidate

Valérie Pécresse becomes the first female Republican presidential candidate in France. Your choice will come as a surprise. She was able to prevail against prominent party colleagues.

In France, the conservative republicans are sending ex-minister Valérie Pécresse a woman for the first time in the presidential election. In the second round of the membership decision, the 54-year-old prevailed with 61 percent of the votes against the southern French MP Eric Ciotti, who received 39 percent of the votes.

“Today I think of all women in France. I will do everything to triumph,” announced the liberal-conservative politician after her victory in the party runoff election against the strongly right-wing Ciotti.

With it the “republican right” is back, so Pécresse. “We will give our country back its unity, dignity and pride.” The right-wing camp last provided the president from 2007 to 2012: Nicolas Sarkozy.

Macron is currently the favorite in the presidential election

The election of Pécresse as a candidate came as a surprise. Among the five applicants, the former EU chief negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, and Xavier Bertrand, President of the Regional Council of Hauts-de-France, had expected opportunities. “I’m the only one who can win against Macron,” said Pécresse after she had come off surprisingly strong in the first round of the primaries and had made it into the runoff election.

According to current polls, however, it is by no means certain that the Republicans will make it to the second round of elections in April 2022. The current favorite is the incumbent President Emmanuel Macron, who is very likely to run again. Right-wing populist Marine Le Pen is currently in second place in the polls.

Pécresse is a former university minister and incumbent regional president of Ile-de-France. The 140,000 party members had been called to the internal area code of the Republicans.