“We cannot sell a movement that continues to have local elected officials”, estimated Tuesday April 26 on franceinfo the deputy Les Républicains de la Manche Philippe Gosselin. He justifies his party’s choice not to ally with La République en Marche for the legislative elections by the need to“provide choice to our fellow citizens” and “an alternative”. “This will not prevent us from ending up on a pension reform.” To collaborate with the presidential majority, Philippe Gosselin takes the example of German government contracts which are only made“on the evening of the legislative elections, depending on the result”.
franceinfo: Neither with LREM nor with Reconquest, is this the right solution?
Philippe Gosselin : I believe that some of our fellow citizens expect clarity. I think the voters who voted for Emmanuel Macron to avoid the worst also want a bit of checks and balances. It would therefore be logical for the opposition of the right and the center to compete under its own colors. We must offer our fellow citizens a choice, an alternative and we must not have a single party. This will not prevent, if necessary, from meeting perhaps on a pension reform and on a certain number of subjects that we have also covered with Valérie Pécresse.
In this context, is there not a risk of implosion after the legislative elections and therefore rather interest in collaborating with the majority?
I’m not sure there’s a risk of implosion. Today there are a few attempts at individual poaching but two, three, or even five or six people who leave, that does not constitute a significant reflux. I think that a collaboration is not done on poaching, but on a government contract. The example of the Germans is often cited to us, but their distribution and their contract of government are only made on the evening of the legislative elections, depending on the result. Today, we cannot sell a movement that continues to have local elected representatives and outgoing deputies. It is important that we drive in our own colors and that we are not weather vanes.
Will you yourself be a candidate against other right-wing opponents?
I will announce in a few days if I leave or not. There is already a MoDem candidate in the candidacy for the majority, but I note that the majority also has a few small questions of stewardship between its various components Horizons, Agir, MoDem, and LREM… All that It’s not that simple with them either.