Xavier Bertrand appointed Prime Minister to break the deadlock: the scenario seems to convince Emmanuel Macron, especially since a former president, now an advisor, has pleaded his case.
History is full of ironies and snubs, and those who write the political chapters are the first witnesses to this. Xavier Bertrand could be appointed Prime Minister at the beginning of September 2024, he who had renounced all national ambitions after his bitter failure in the LR primaries for the 2022 presidential election. According to information from ParisianEmmanuel Macron is reportedly thinking of him to form the next government and even obtained the agreement of Laurent Wauquiez, the president of the deputies in the Assembly, as well as of leading figures in the Senate, on Tuesday September 3, to ensure the support of right-wing parliamentarians.
His political family will not oppose the nomination of Xavier Bertrand, despite the risk of collusion with Emmanuel Macron, on two conditions: that the president ensures that no motion of censure is voted against him – which requires new consultations – and that the policy pursued is in line with the spirit of the legislative pact proposed this summer. Elements that do not seem insurmountable.
Xavier Bertrand could therefore be the solution to the political impasse. The irony, once again, ultimately lies not so much in the fact that Emmanuel Macron was very close to appointing a left-wing personality to Matignon, but rather that the name of the president of Hauts-de-France was pushed, forcefully, by a former head of state, who quite openly mocked him a few years ago. Several political media outlets, including Le Point, report that Nicolas Sarkozy, who is very listened to by Emmanuel Macron, pleaded Xavier Bertrand’s cause, presenting him to Emmanuel Macron as “a good choice”.
Observers of political life will not have forgotten the tender words with which Nicolas Sarkozy spoke to describe Xavier Bertrand, who was François Fillon’s minister during his five-year term. “Good for nothing”, “mediocre”, “small insurer”, he said of him, adding that “it is not recognition that stifles him”, according to remarks revealed in a book published by Frédéric Gerschel and Nathalie Schuck 10 years ago. “I am sure and certain that Nicolas Sarkozy said these words”, reacted Xavier Bertrand, questioned about these pretty phrases, on Europe 1. “These cruel, mean, murderous sentences […] “He is capable of it,” he regretted.