“It’s been three years since I expected Gilbert Collard to leave the RN”, declared, Saturday January 22 on franceinfo, the vice-president of the party and mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot. “He must resign from his mandate as an MEP which he received from RN voters.” According to him, Eric Zemmour is “the candidate of the division”. “If they prevent us from being in the second round, they will forever bear the responsibility of having favored the system when we were in a position to win”, he added.
Franceinfo: What is your first reaction to what he said this morning?
Louis Alliot: Me, you know, I haven’t spoken to him for three years. It’s been three years since I expected Gilbert Collard to leave the RN, so I’m not surprised. He is in constant protest and, already, in the European elections, he had blackmailed him by saying that if we did not put him on the list, he would go to Dupont-Aignan. So his convictions are of variable geometry. But we must go to the end of this logic! He must resign from his mandate as an MEP which he received from RN voters. Electorally speaking, I see that we lost two MEPs but that, in the same week, we took two points in the opinion polls.
Do you now fear the arrival of Marion Maréchal at Eric Zemmour?
I do not know. Marion had moved away from politics. If she supports Zemmour, it will not upset French political life. People’s concerns are much more difficult. Everything that concerns the political transfer window and the ambitions of some, the egos of others and especially the bitterness and jealousy, I can tell you that, in public opinion, it is pschitt.
Is a merger between Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour possible?
I think that today, the only division candidate is Zemmour. If it weren’t for Zemmour’s candidacy and a large rally, we would be ahead of Emmanuel Macron in the opinion polls. Today, the one who could save the Pécresse candidacy is Eric Zemmour. If at the end of the exercise, they are solely responsible for the division of the national camp and they prevent us from being in the second round, they will forever bear in history the responsibility for this division and for favoring the system like never before when we were in a position to win.