There will be three competitors on the starting line. The High Authority of Republicans published, Friday, November 4, the list of candidates selected for the race for the presidency of the party. After having collected the required sponsorships from members and LR parliamentarians, the deputies Eric Ciotti and Aurélien Pradié and the senator Bruno Retailleau saw their file approved by this internal body, responsible for organizing the ballot. One month before the first round of the congress, which will be held electronically from December 3 to 4, franceinfo presents the three elected officials who are applying for the succession of interim president Annie Genevard, in office since the resignation of Christian Jacob in June. last.
Eric Ciotti, the favorite
On the strength of his second place, in the fall of 2021, during the right-wing primary for the presidential election, the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes was the first of the trio to formalize his candidacy. “The unexpected success I obtained in this election encourages me to go further”he said, at the end of July, saying he wanted “to sort out” France by “the road to reform”.
The 57-year-old elected official, deputy since 2007 and former president of the Alpes-Maritimes departmental council (2008-2017), chose the slogan “The right to the heart”. One line supporter “straight and strong”he highlights his ability to “say things clearly”with a “very clear opposition to macronism” and a firm speech, in particular on the sovereign.
Eric Ciotti notably campaigned by promising to “designate from the beginning of 2023” the Republican candidate for the 2027 presidential election. “And, for me, there is only one who can do it, it’s Laurent Wauquiez”, he warned. The president of the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region is also one of Eric Ciotti’s main supporters.
“He has this link with the militants which is for me the first condition to be president of the party”justifies Laurent Wauquiez about Eric Ciotti, whose “courage” and the “clarity on difficult subjects like security and immigration”. Thanks to his support and that of the powerful LR federations in the south-east of France, the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes is regularly presented as the favorite of the ballot.
Aurélien Pradié, the challenger
Last of the candidates to have launched his campaign, mid-September, the deputy of Lot defends a social right line, close to that of Xavier Bertrand. Judging that the candidacies of its competitors “look alike”the current secretary general of the party claims to want “rebuild” a “popular right” who “speaks to young people and all social categories”.
Offensive, the number 3 of the Republicans says to himself “full right” but does not hesitate to take his side against the grain, lambasting “the economic model of hyper-consumption that has gone crazy” or refusing to “tell a worker who started at 18 that he will have to work a few more years”. Aurélien Pradié also intends “change everything” within the party, especially “the name, the seat [et] our organization”.
Supported by part of the young guard of the Republicans, like the deputies Julien Dive and Pierre-Henri Dumont, the 36-year-old elected knows that he is a challenger: “In this kind of election, you always have to be wary of the third man you didn’t see coming.” He thus assures to be “convinced” to reach at least the second round and to be able to create there “A suprise”.
Bruno Retailleau, the unifier
The boss of the LR senators embarked on the race at the beginning of September, with the aim of “to build this great right-wing, popular and patriotic party, which France lacks today”. Between Eric Ciotti, very right-handed, and Aurélien Pradié, with a more social prism, the 61-year-old dean of Vendée, a former fillonist, is not “candidate against no one” but wants “offer another way”.
His credo: to unite his political family. “I want a right gathered, not narrowed”he defends, judging that“there is no future for little bits of the right” who “would then be sold by cutting”. He promises to “create a new party”with a “clear line” rather than “strong words”. Supported by many executives, such as Gérard Larcher and François-Xavier Bellamy, he is perceived as less divisive than Eric Ciotti. Some see him as a bulwark against a possible wave of departures in the event of victory by the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes.
Ideologically, Bruno Retailleau is known for his conservative positions. He comes from the Movement for France of Philippe de Villiers and inherited in 2017 from Republican Force, the micro-party of François Fillon. The former Prime Minister recently hailed his “faithful convictions” and his ability to “Leading the Republican Renewal”.