At Renaissance, it’s a quarter to midnight. To prevent the victory of the extremes and avoid the disappearance of the ideological and partisan edifice built since the birth of En Marche, our movement must take advantage of this period of “coexistence” and its congress in the fall to transform itself.
Renaissance must first assume its role as guardian of the temple, guarantor of electoral commitments and the hope born in 2017. Originally, Macronism is the promise to govern by overcoming divisions. But if “at the same time” was an expression of formidable conquest, it has since clashed with the exercise of power and has generated a lot of misunderstanding. For our fellow citizens, it has become indigestible chewing gum, always too far to the left for people on the right and too far to the right for people on the left. Internally, it regularly weakens our common home. Who has forgotten the psychodrama linked to immigration law?
In the future, the party, with a strong personality at its head, capable of imposing a balance of power, will have to be the watchdog of these principles and refuse the scull. Our objective is neither to erase sensitivities, nor to convert people from the right or the left to the idea coming from the opposite side, but to design a third, more efficient way with all people of good will.
The need to intensify local networking
This then supposes strengthening Renaissance in its capacity to act. The party must be a thermometer of reality and an effective transmission belt between citizens and those who lead, to tell the truth and alert people to misunderstandings. The success of this “bottom-up” organization requires intensifying our local network, investing in associations, which are the beating heart of the country, but also offering a functional framework to all those who, from civil society , wish to get involved. In June 2017, more than half of our deputies had never campaigned. But 7 years later, the ambition for renewal has run out of steam, overwhelmed by the system. Conversely, we paid to see that a technical expert does not necessarily make a great politician! These new faces must be better supported and encouraged to build local roots. Obtaining a mandate will be their life insurance in the political landscape.
Finally, Renaissance must become an election-winning machine. As such, apart from presidential ambitions, how can we justify the divisions of the central bloc into a plethora of distinct battalions? This organization works when you are rich, but it is an accelerator to defeat when everything goes wrong. Besides, outside Paris, it’s a very smart person who knows how to differentiate a Renaissance activist from a sympathizer of Horizons or Modem. Let’s build a unique organization, with currents, rituals, a common training school and a clear nomination process for the next presidential election. At the same time, we must broaden our sociological base. Also, I suggest appointing a new team of spokespersons, whose diversity, authenticity and communication codes will allow us to spread our message where it is absent today. That is to say among young people, in working-class neighborhoods and rural communities.
Better consider the RN electorate
Our competitors have taken a considerable lead, with formidable schools of thought and opinion leaders who, throughout Tiktok and Réels, distill their story. In the neighborhoods, with a lot of communitarianism, I saw the far left establish the idea that everything that was not affiliated with the NFP was racist. I saw him play with the conflict in Gaza to divide and mobilize massively. These untruths are passed like a letter in the mail because, from the blocks to the polling stations, we no longer have relays.
On the other side of the spectrum, the RN electorate must also be better considered. In the campaign, I no longer count the number of Marine Le Pen supporters whom I caught by the sleeve after sharing a frank shouting match then a good coffee. For some of them, these women and men, to whom we attribute a thousand grievances, are certainly the quickest to return to the republican field.
A party is not the storage room where you put your trash. It is the family home where we come together to speak frankly, stick together in adversity and celebrate victories. I know the exceptional strength of the walkers and the French people who, out of a taste for commitment and with the desire to build the future, will soon join us. It is on these foundations that the construction of the Renaissance party, whose consensual project has more meaning than ever, must continue.
* Etienne LOOS has been an activist in the Renaissance party since 2017. Communications advisor to the cabinet of several ministers between 2022 and 2024, he resigns from his position to run in the legislative elections in Strasbourg under the label of the former presidential majority.