Stiff as justice. This June 20, 2022, Xavier Bertrand is one of those who do not compromise. The boss of Hauts-de-France pays little attention to the result of the legislative elections, which the day before granted a pivotal role to the Les Républicains (LR) group in the National Assembly. Power is there, within reach. He ostentatiously neglects it, draping himself in the costume of virtue. “We are not here to block, but we are not for sale. There is no question of entering into a presidential majority or a government agreement,” he says on the sidelines of a Strategic Council of the party. The man is then in tune with his own people. On the right, no one is arguing for a compromise with a re-elected but already declining president. Independence as his only compass.
Well, almost no one. Jean-François Copé is preaching in the desert. He advocates participation of the right in the government to find some oxygen. A return to business, finally! The former minister opens up about it in private to Xavier Bertrand:
– “You’re wrong Xavier, it was for you.”
– “You’re right, but you shouldn’t be right too soon.”
Compromise then rhymes with compromise. Xavier Bertrand returned to his political family a few months earlier, thanks to a primary lost to Valérie Pécresse. It would be inappropriate to look elsewhere. And then, he hardly believes in this coalition, also defended by Nicolas Sarkozy. “We must not regret not having scratched at the door. It would not be open, he confided in August 2022. Macron had no intention of reaching an agreement, only poaching interested him.” Is he really wrong? The head of state then contented himself with vague consultations, without ever reaching out to the right. Acted as if he still had an absolute majority, despite the verdict of the ballot boxes.
“Nobody can get inside Macron’s head”
Two years have passed. It is time to be right. It is no longer a question of offering France a majority, but of avoiding parliamentary paralysis. It is no longer a question of rallying a man, but of imposing a “cohabitation” on him. Here is Xavier Bertrand ready to put on the Prime Minister’s clothes of a president at bay. It is still necessary to impose oneself on Emmanuel Macron, a man with an unfathomable psyche. Talk to Nicolas Sarkozy about it. The former head of state recently confided in private that his former minister “ticks a few boxes” for Matignon. While admitting that “no one can get into Macron’s head”.
If you can’t probe his soul, you might as well knock on his door. Xavier Bertrand has launched an intense campaign to settle in Matignon. On July 9, he defended the idea of a “national emergency government”, with a “political” tint and led by a figure of the Republicans. Since then, his supporters have taken turns in the press to support the nomination of their champion. We list his qualities, with the force of evidence. Is this man of the right not capable of speaking to the social-democratic left? Didn’t he beat the RN twice in his region? Isn’t his political experience an asset in the parliamentary cauldron? And then, his historical opposition to the head of state would intoxicate the country with this “perfume of cohabitation” vaunted by the Elysée, after the defeat of the central bloc in the legislative elections.
Be careful not to overdo it. Several elected officials have warned Xavier Bertrand about this not very discreet media offensive. “Too much of Bertrand quoted in the press by people who are not the most influential on the president is not the best way to achieve it,” an LR executive told him. Emmanuel Macron does not like having his hand forced. So, having a Prime Minister imposed on him… “It’s spontaneous,” the person concerned essentially assured a member of parliament, who was hardly fooled. “No one talks to Macron, and conversely, defends a former LR minister. Xavier has no choice. He has to make himself known.” With dexterity. Around the president, people are amused by a recent article published in Le Figaro around his ambitions. “I am ready to take up the challenge,” proclaims Xavier Bertrand in a first version, before this sentence is finally attributed to a “close” person of the former minister. Let’s live ambitiously, let’s live (almost) hidden!
“There is no ontological incompatibility between them”
This is what needs to be done in lace with this elusive president. Xavier Bertrand has a stormy relationship with Emmanuel Macron. Ideological proximity and human and political differences are intertwined between them. The two men share the same European convictions and a similar economic approach. It is no coincidence that Xavier Bertrand’s name was mentioned in 2017 to join the Macronist adventure. However, he did not follow up on the requests. “I do not forget my ideas and my values for a position,” he justified at the time. The man quickly transformed into an irreducible opponent, posing as a mirror image of the head of state. Xavier Bertrand plays the ventriloquist of the “territories”, contrary to the “Parisian centralism” symbolized by Emmanuel Macron. This follower of social dialogue castigates the “verticality” of a president who “erases Parliament and despises local elected officials.” To the point of playing the braggart with him. Like this September 14, 2021, where he promised him, in his overplayed style, a “debate, a real debate” during a meeting in Roubaix.
The Bertrand camp is today engaged in a balancing act. The differences with Emmanuel Macron are claimed, but also put into perspective. The “perfume of cohabitation” should not smell of eau de Cologne. “There is no ontological incompatibility between them”, certifies a close friend of the head of Hauts-de-France. His supporters praise the “Gaullist” Bertrand, concerned with respecting the sovereign prerogatives of the head of state. We talk about their peaceful meetings during official trips, far from the talk of the TV sets. It is urgent to show a clean pair of heels and file down the claws.
“Isn’t that a problem with Wauquiez?”
So, we sniff each other out. Emissaries of Emmanuel Macron have spoken to those of Xavier Bertrand. The president himself is sounding out elected officials. Often to test the hypothesis. Sometimes to find out more about the profile of the Northerner. “Doesn’t that pose a problem with regard to Wauquiez?” the president asked a parliamentarian. Useful clarification: the man was also sounded out about Michel Barnier and Jean-Louis Borloo. Xavier Bertrand knows that his deteriorating relationship with Emmanuel Macron is an obstacle to overcome. “The subject concerns their ability to work well together,” judges an interlocutor of the head of state. “Is that possible? We never know in advance.” “Xavier is aware that he may be just a decoy,” confides a supporter. Speaking to an elected official, he wonders: What if the president turned instead to a personality who is hardly politically engaged? Not really his profile.
The fog does not clear. While waiting for white smoke, predictions take the place of analysis. Everyone tries to grasp the intentions of the President of the Republic, by means of always interested demonstrations. “The subject is no longer personal but political”, assures a minister in favor of the Bertrand hypothesis, when a loyalist of the head of state from the left disdainfully mocks this “good local elected official” arousing the “contempt” of Emmanuel Macron. The right, however, remains skeptical. The head of state would be too resentful to offer Matignon to his rival. Too drunk on his power to appoint a head of government of this political stature. “It is a custom of the Fifth Republic. The president never appoints the Prime Minister designated by the media except to kill him”, notes an LR hierarch.
Will it go, won’t it go? These questions highlight the ambivalence of the political period. Both the Elysée and the Bertrand camp are extolling the merits of “cohabitation” after the legislative elections. In the absence of an absolute majority, the appointment of the future Prime Minister is nevertheless a matter of princely decision. Jacques Chirac had no choice but to appoint Lionel Jospin after the dissolution of 1997. Xavier Bertrand is here just one option among others for a president who is holding a few cards. The man is reduced to waiting for the presidential verdict. “For me, it’s all profit,” he assured an elected official. “Either he appoints me, and I’ll try my luck. Or he doesn’t appoint me, and I’ll reappear all the same.” In a few days, he will know if he was right too late.
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