“Anyone who represents a real current of thought in France must be able to present themselves. This is obviously the case of Eric Zemmour. Nothing would be more serious than to prevent the French from expressing themselves.” This is the principle laid down by Valérie Pécresse, guest of franceinfo on Monday, January 10, while Eric Zemmour seems to be struggling in his quest for the 500 signatures of elected officials necessary to be able to stand for the presidential election.
Could the Pécresse camp go so far as to help its far-right opponent to obtain the precious sponsorships? “It is not my role to bring sponsorships to anyone. Today, the mayors Les Républicains support me”, evacuates the candidate, questioned on rumors according to which her party could provide discreet support to the Zemmour candidacy.
“Eric Zemmour must be a candidate and if he does not get his sponsorships, we will do what is necessary”, would have declared to Europe 1 a close advisor to the president of the Ile-de-France region. It is only a question of tactics here. LR has no interest in preventing Eric Zemmour from obtaining his 500 signatures, as the former columnist recalled in December against Cyril Hanouna on C8: “If The Republicans do this tactical stupidity, Le Pen will be at 25% and Ms. Pécresse will not be in the second round.”
The strategy would therefore be to allow Eric Zemmour to be a candidate by offering him signatures, with the hope of lowering the score of Marine Le Pen in the first round of the ballot. However, the advisers of Valérie Pécresse interviewed by franceinfo assure that there is no concerted strategy within the party. “This is hogwash… First, we have no interest in it. Then we have no way of doing it.”, assures Aurélien Pradié, spokesperson for the candidate. “There is a wild primary between Eric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen, in which we have no vocation to intervene”, adds Geoffroy Didier, communications director of the campaign.
“It is Eric Zemmour’s responsibility to find his sponsorships and it is difficult to become president if we cannot find 500 elected officials to support you.”
Geoffroy Didier, communications director of Valérie Pécresseto franceinfo
“Rather than making political calculations, the most important thing is to campaign and convince, completes Alexandre Vincendet, Deputy Secretary General of LR. When you start wanting to make three-cushion billiards, you end up getting the white ball in the face. ” Off, some of the candidate’s advisers do not deny the strategic interest, but deny any plan in this direction. “Objectively, we are more interested in Zemmour being a candidate, but I have never heard anyone explain this strategy or give an instruction”, assures a relative of Valérie Pécresse.
Rather than cohorts of LR mayors providing their support to Eric Zemmour, it is likely to see various right-wing mayors of small towns coming to complete the hunt for the necessary signatures for the candidate. Vincent Thomazo, departmental secretary of Debout la France en Savoie, also ensures on Twitter that his friends, mayor without a label, “was contacted by an elected Republicans to ask him to sponsor Zemmour”. Asked by franceinfo, the representative of Nicolas Dupont-Aignan’s party did not wish to say more.
This kind of rumors provoke the ire of the National Rally. “Zemmour has made his strategy clear, it is to prevent Marine Le Pen from being in the second round, annoys the deputy RN Sébastien Chenu. They are objective allies, they roll for each other. With this sponsorship story, we understand better why Eric Zemmour does not beat too much on Valérie Pécresse since his entry into the campaign. “
The staff of LR sweeps the accusations and ensures that there is no question for LR to encourage right-wing elected officials to bring their signature to Eric Zemmour. Moreover, the federations would already beat the recall of the troops. “We are responsible for ensuring that LR elected officials send their sponsorship to Valérie Pécresse”, explains Christine Gavalda Moulenat, president of the LR federation of Pyrénées-Orientales. “The mayors are free of course, but we assume that they will sponsor Valérie Pécresse. I don’t think the party will accept other sponsorships…” she adds.
On the other hand, several LR members recall the freedom that mayors have when sending their signature to the Constitutional Council. “Each mayor is free to do what he wants, it is a free and personal choice. They do not even have to tell their municipal council., recalls a mayor of the Alpes-Maritimes close to Eric Zemmour. Then, LR elected officials who would like to sponsor Zemmour would risk putting themselves on the fringes of the political party. “
Asked by Radio J, the communications director of Valérie Pécresse, Geoffroy Didier, warns that if elected LR officials brought a sponsorship to Eric Zemmour, “they would exclude themselves from Republicans”. Would the elected officials concerned be penalized for all that? Not so sure…
“I am not here to sanction, to punish, it is not the role of a political family.”
Geoffroy Didierat Radio J
“We are not going to oppose the fact that he has his signatures either, and I do not know if there will be sanctions for our elected officials”, adds someone close to candidate LR. “In the end, he will have them, and that will work out for us.”