The party must hold Tuesday, April 26 a strategic council which promises to be epic. First hypothesis, the least probable in view of the latest polls: a victory for Marine Le Pen. Suffice to say that the party is torn apart. “Some will have a heavy responsibility in the event of a bad surprisewarns a leader, they can bite their fingers.” He and others, who called to vote Emmanuel Macron the day after the first round, still have so much trouble digesting that others have opted for neither, nor Macron, nor Le Pen. “In 2002 we would not have had positions like that”regrets a regional president who wonders about his future within the party.
Second hypothesis: Emmanuel Macron wins. The party is also torn apart. Thursday, the mayor of Saint-Etienne Gaël Perdriau put a coin in the machine, asking for the convening of a national council – the parliament of the movement – to debate a government pact with Emmanuel Macron. “The time for a real national union has come”, pleads the elected representative of Saint-Etienne. And an LR executive admits: “There is a political recomposition to which we no longer belong”. “Except that in the spirit of Emmanuel Macronopposes another, coalition is tantamount to submission.”
This is what is turning many elected officials around for the time being: the inflexible position of the outgoing president, who is proposing a merger-acquisition, with a new movement that would see the light of day, but not a coalition where everyone keeps their identity. The Republicans have decided that it is urgent to wait until Sunday, and the speech of Emmanuel Macron if he is re-elected. “It’s up to him to tell us what he wants to do, it’s up to him to offer an outstretched hand”explains a vice-president of LR.
These uncertainties have consequences for the organization of the June legislative elections. The good news is that the right has found a modus vivendi to finance this election. The news was announced to the candidates the day before yesterday: they will be entitled to a loan of 5,000 euros from the party, which they will have to repay if, and only if, they obtain more than 5% of the votes. Christian Jacob was clear: this starting bet is reserved for those who remain loyal to LR. Candidates must therefore sign a written commitment. “But the commitments we know what it’s worth”creaks an elected official.
The question is: how many candidates are ready to follow the proposal of Nicolas Sarkozy and dealer with En Marche to save their election? Everyone we contacted said they had been approached in one way or another. More worrying for LR: some candidates, invested or pre-positioned, are no longer very excited about the very idea of going into battle. “We have until May 20 to decide”confides to me an elected official who hesitates. “We know that we are going to the slaughterhouse”loose a Parisian, who will go to the end.