It’s crazy how the dissolution really clarified everything! This second five-year term is definitely like no other. The Attal government hadn’t lasted long, and now Michel Barnier is overthrown by a motion of censure three months after his appointment. François Bayrou finds himself in Matignon, but the crisis never ends, political life enters into the unprecedented.
Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella snub Eric Lombard
On December 31, Eric Lombard spoke with Marine Le Pen on the telephone but the contact was not really engaging. “Neither she nor the president of the party, Jordan Bardella, responded to the invitation to meet the Minister of the Economy, who in his consultations still received two former Prime Ministers,” we note in Bercy. An RN delegation nevertheless meets Eric Lombard and Amélie de Montchalin this week.
Jean-Marie Le Pen: the silence of Brigitte Macron
The sobriety of Emmanuel Macron’s press release after the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen was reinforced by one point: it was not “the President of the Republic and his wife” who expressed their condolences to the family of the leader of the Republic. extreme right – as was the case for the death of Anne-Marie Comparini, the former president of the Rhône-Alpes region, Jimmy Carter, Maïté, Didier Roustan, Louis Mermaz or Michel Blanc – but the only president. Nothing is systematic, explains the Elysée, everything depends on whether there is “a link, a community”. In fact, Brigitte Macron was not cited in the press release paying tribute to Claude Allègre, but her silence on such occasions remains exceptions.
Bruno Retailleau’s lunch with Brigitte Macron
Emmanuel Macron and Bruno Retailleau did not know each other or very little when the latter was appointed to Beauvau. If the Head of State initially observed the first steps of the new Minister of the Interior with suspicion, he quickly appreciated his uprightness and rigor. As for Bruno Retailleau, who has always castigated the Macronian “at the same time”, he now admits to being impressed by the work capacity and knowledge of the files of the President of the Republic. A sign that the Beauvau tenant counts in the eyes of the Elysée, he was invited to lunch by Brigitte Macron at the beginning of December. Did they talk politics? Literature, that’s for sure, since both are great readers. A meeting in the form of a dubbing?
Bernard Cazeneuve and Olivier Faure mend their ways
Between these two, nothing was going well. The former Prime Minister, whose name circulated for Matignon last summer, continues to resent his former political family. He repeatedly accused Olivier Faure of having prevented his appointment “with glee”. His entourage, stung, responded curtly, inviting him to go and see if the grass was greener elsewhere and in particular at MoDem with whom Bernard Cazeneuve appeared on several occasions.
These autumnal pleasantries having passed (and Michel Barnier censored), the strategy of the PS has changed with regard to François Bayrou. The roses, returned to the center of the political game, want to avoid further institutional chaos and are negotiating hard with the government. An attitude which warmed up (a little) relations between the two men who called each other in December. Faure denied having campaigned against Cazeneuve, while reminding him that it would have been difficult to sponsor him since he was one of the only men on the left not to have supported the NFP. And Olivier Faure blurted out: “You know very well that the only one who doesn’t want you is François (Hollande, Editor’s note).” However, he hadn’t asked for anything…
Valérie Pécresse and Marine Le Pen’s calendar
If she does not wish it, Valérie Pécresse does not exclude it at all: a presidential election could take place in 2025. Explanation: in the event that Marine Le Pen, in the affair of the RN parliamentary assistants, is sentenced without provisional execution, it would appeal and thus trigger a countdown which would encourage it to accelerate the deadlines – a new trial would then take place before 2027. Its interest would therefore be to take advantage of the interval by putting a maximum pressure on Emmanuel Macron, even if it means bringing down his successive Prime Ministers.
LR: François-Xavier Bellamy, David Lisnard’s candidate?
The Republicans, launched on a mission of rebuilding, are looking for a new face. On the right, no one doubts the ambitions of the boss of Republican Right (DR) deputies Laurent Wauquiez. Other possible suitors? According to several sources, David Lisnard supports the candidacy of MEP François-Xavier Bellamy. “He can get everyone to agree,” slips the mayor of Cannes. “He has gained experience, has talent and is fair with everyone.” The councilor, however, takes care to cite Laurent Wauquiez and Bruno Retailleau as legitimate contenders.
Marine Tondelier has competition
Has the all-powerful boss of the Greens, candidate for internal re-election, finally found an opponent at the next congress in April 2025? For the motion “Make ecology win” – the right wing of ecologists embodied by the vice-president of the Assembly Jérémie Iordanoff – the name of Florentin Letissier, deputy mayor of the City of Paris in charge of the social economy and solidarity, is now circulating to run for the position of national secretary of the party, although no position has yet been made official. For its part, the “United Greens” motion, the left wing of the party, wishes to present a candidate against Marine Tondelier – the choice of challenger is in gestation. “Not necessarily against her, but to denounce a process centered on her person,” we whisper. Nuance!
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