Much has been said in recent days about the internal crisis in the Socialist Party. But the Republicans are also going through a zone of turbulence, while the examination of the highly contested pension reform will begin in the Assembly. Internal tensions that could have consequences for the government.
As so often, in the absence of an undisputed leader, a power war is currently being played out on the right. Eric Ciotti was elected at the beginning of December new party president. An election which is not disputed internally, but which turns out to be less broad than what the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes hoped for. His two opponents in Congress did very well: 22% of the vote for the young deputy Aurelien Pradie in the first round and especially 46% of the votes, in the second round, for Bruno Retailleau.
The new LR boss therefore had to deal with this balance in the formation of the new management team. And in wanting to satisfy everyone, he did not satisfy anyone. Deputy Pradié took it very badly to have to share his position as number 2 of the party with Francois-Xavier Bellamy, the first follower of Bruno Retailleau. As for the boss of the LR senators, he felt cheated ten days ago when he discovered the new organization chart of the party which did not correspond, according to him, to what he had negotiated with Eric Ciotti. Names would have been removed, others added. In short, no one found it. Bruno Retailleau, not happy at all, made it known on social networks. Aurélien Pradié, he completely zapped the ceremony of the wishes of the new boss of the party last Tuesday. He had a swimming pool, as they say.
The strategy of “ gathering » by Eric Cioti undermined
Nothing comparable to the Copé-Fillon war experienced by the party ten years ago. But this organizational chart story has clearly degraded Eric Ciotti’s relationship with his two challengers. ” With Eric Ciotti, you have to fight for everything, all the time “, Explained to me a few days ago a close friend of Bruno Retailleau for whom confidence is already broken with the new president of the party. In fact, three camps are in the process of crystallizing within the LR: the senators, almost all behind their boss Bruno Retailleau; MPs loyal to Eric Ciotti and Olivier Marleix, their leader; and then those who could be called “slingers” behind Aurélien Pradié. They are no more than a dozen in the Assembly, but they are making more and more noise.
A pebble in the government’s shoe
Dissensions that fall badly for the government in full debate on pension reform. The LR senators should vote for it without too much difficulty, but the vote of the deputies is not acquired, far from it. The Ciotti line, negotiated with the government, is still the majority in the group, but Aurélien Pradié, who notably wants better consideration for long careers, is taking more and more deputies behind him. How many will there be in the end to oppose the government’s text? Impossible to say, especially since many are still undecided. But that really does not help the government, which needs at least half of the votes of the LRs in the Assembly to pass its text.
► Read also : on pensions, the majority put to the test of parliamentary debate