the RN welcomes the rallying of the essayist Malika Sorel, formerly close to LR

Malika Sorel is an immigration specialist who worked with Nicolas Sarkozy then supported François Fillion in 2017. She has gravitated to the LR galaxy since then, but she announced on Sunday that she was joining Jordan Bardella, as number 2 on the RN list of Europeans.

Essayist Malika Sorel announced on Sunday March 24 that she was joining the RN for the European elections. “It’s a great catch, we put a stone in LR’s garden”rejoices an RN MEP, who sees it as proof that “the pseudo sanitary cordon no longer exists”. In his interview with FigaroMalika Sorel “believes that the National Rally is the only party that defends the superior interests of France”. Daughter of Algerians, Malika Sorel has written on immigration and integration, particularly on what she calls “the decomposition of France”. Her work had interested Nicolas Sarkozy, since in 2009 he had appointed her to the High Council for Integration.

Number 2 ensures she becomes an MEP

Before Nicolas Sarkozy, Malika Sorel worked with Dominique de Villepin and, during the 2017 presidential election, she supported François Fillon to the end. She was by his side at the Trocadéro meeting, while many right-wing elected officials had deserted the campaign after suspicions of his wife Penelope’s fictitious employment. At Le Figaro, Malika Sorel says “orphan” since his defeat, but last September, the essayist was still at the LR parliamentary days in Saint-Malo, for a round table devoted to immigration, integration and education.

On the LR side we are playing down the drama. “If the RN only found that, it’s not a big deal,” sweeps away someone close to Eric Ciotti. According to the boss of LR, “political life is not devoid of opportunism”. A campaign executive insists: “Would she have gone there if the RN had not been at the top of the polls?” It must be said that by being second on Jordan Bardella’s list, Malika Sorel is guaranteed to become an MEP. The companionship with LR is more uncertain these days. A pillar of the Fillon 2017 campaign puts things into perspective: “No one knows her!” François Fillon, for his part, limits himself to a “no comment”.

The RN offensive against its competitors

The RN will put a lot of emphasis on its new recruit, because “Malika Sorel has the Sarkozy-Fillon double bufferboasts a close friend of Jordan Bardella, sign that LR is demonetized”. From Tuesday, she will participate in the “General States of Immigration” organized by the RN and the RPR (this is not the RPR of Jacques Chirac, but the one recreated by the ex-UMP Franck Allisio, now an RN deputy, who resurrected the logo and the name of the old party).

The National Rally does not hide it: for June 9, the goal is to arrive “far ahead of the Macronist list”but “the icing on the cakesays someone close to Marine Le Pen, it would be that the Reconquête lists – of Marion Maréchal – and LR – of François-Xavier Bellamy – are below the 5% mark”.