Neither the Republicans nor Emmanuel Macron “do not want a discussion on the basis of a government project”, assures Sunday, October 23 on franceinfo Pierre-Henri Dumont, deputy secretary general of the Republicans. This Sunday, Nicolas Sarkozy suggests in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche, that the current head of state finds an agreement with the LR party to compensate for his minority in the National Assembly.
>> Nicolas Sarkozy suggests to Emmanuel Macron to turn “more frankly” to the right and to conclude “a political agreement”
A proposal brushed aside by Pierre-Henri Dumont who accuses on franceinfo Emmanuel Macron of not having taken up, in his finance bill “only a few amendments from the Republicans”. “If Emmanuel Macron wanted to make a government agreement, he would be much more agreeable on the amendments tabled by the Republicans”adds the deputy secretary of the LR.
franceinfo: What importance do you give to the word of Nicolas Sarkozy, who speaks today in the Journal du Dimanche?
Pierre-Henri Dumont: That of a former President of the Republic, the last right-wing candidate to have won a presidential election several years ago now. It is always an important voice to listen to, especially in this period of institutional turmoil, political turmoil or in an international crisis with the war in Ukraine and the explosion in prices. It is an important voice, but which is no longer at the heart of the political game.
Can we, according to you, aspire to the head of the Les Républicains party without the approval of its founder Nicolas Sarkozy?
It remains a tutelary figure, but you have to know how to turn the pages without spitting in the soup.
“I hear certain competitors on the right for the election of the Republicans who, surely frustrated at not having been appointed deputy minister in charge of stuffed cabbage in 2007, are hitting on Nicolas Sarkozy’s five-year term by saying that nothing has been done. This is not our case.”
Pierre-Henri Dumontat franceinfo
We believe a lot could have been done but the world has changed. It is now necessary to know how to carry new messages on ecology, school and obviously always on security and authority. There is a new world that you have to know how to face and you have to make concrete proposals to find the hearts of the French. We cannot imagine that the right will win a presidential election when 1% of young people under 25 voted for our candidate in the last presidential election.
Could you find a government agreement with Emmanuel Macron within the Republicans, as Nicolas Sarkozy wishes?
The question is not to know what Nicolas Sarkozy wants, but to know what Les Républicains and Emmanuel Macron want. Neither of them wants a discussion on the basis of a government plan. Emmanuel Macron has proven this in the Social Security financing bill and the finance bill for our budget. He only took up a few amendments from the Republicans, including a few small details, for example on the increase in the ceiling for meal tickets. That’s not a great policy. If Emmanuel Macron wanted to make a government agreement, he would be much more sympathetic to the amendments tabled by the Republicans or other groups. We don’t want a government agreement because we were elected to be in opposition. In addition to this, the government decides not to make any gesture vis-à-vis the Republicans.
You sign with most of the LR group in the Assembly a forum in Le Journal du Dimanche in which you explain that you will not vote for the motions of censure of the NUPES and the RN. Should we see a gesture in the direction of Emmanuel Macron?
It is absolutely not a gesture towards Emmanuel Macron, but towards our voters. We were not elected to mess things up and have all French people on the street in institutional uncertainty. We were elected to strongly oppose, but not to block the country. We believe that adding an institutional crisis to an economic crisis and a geo-diplomatic crisis would raise a real issue. We do not want, for the moment, to overthrow the government. We do not forbid ourselves to vote in the future, or even to table a motion of censure if the situation requires it.