The 62 deputies of the Gaullist party, at least what remains of them, are faced with a dilemma: to oppose, at the risk of being marginalized, or to cooperate, at the risk of being absorbed. Without the support of the group Les Républicains, the elected representatives of Renaissance, entangled with the relative majority, would never have been able to pass the bill on purchasing power in its government version. With the increased and extended discount which will increase the liter of fuel to €1.50, the tax exemption for overtime or the conversion of RTT into salary, the LRs have scored points.
>> Redemption of RTT, tax exemption for overtime… These four measures carried by the right which were approved by the presidential majority
Some right-wing MPs have even boasted of having moved the government. Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of the Economy and ex-member of the LR, saw in his former group a precious support. A kind of enlargement of the majority, at the cost of modest concessions. The Republicans oscillate between compromise and compromise… And the line between the two is thin.
The Republicans had however refused a government agreement with Emmanuel Macron, for fear of being absorbed. This is what is likely to happen to them, however, even if the group intends to toughen the tone at the start of the school year, in particular on immigration or pensions.
A disillusioned party figure who wants to remain anonymous confided on Monday August 1: “LR, it’s over! No space for freedom, no slots to come to power.” For this pillar of the traditional right, the party is torn between the identity, embodied by Eric Ciotti, or the social and popular, embodied by Aurélien Pradié. Between the two, a beautiful line of fracture and not enough to weigh in 2027. You had to go to the government to try to win, but from the inside.
The party will elect its new president during the congress scheduled for early December 2022 and it is not sure that this will allow it to revive. Laurent Wauquiez will not be a candidate, as if, for a large number of his voters, the party was too narrow to run for president. After all, the right is already in power: Bruno Le Maire, Gérald Darmanin who replays Nicolas Sarkozy place Beauvau, Edouard Philippe passed by Matignon, or even Emmanuel Macron who is reminiscent of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing in certain aspects. According to a party official, it is not the classic right, partly in government, but Marine Le Pen who could recover the disappointed macronism. To ward off this omen, there remains a five-year term. We still have a little time.