Favorite in the polls to chair the Republicans (LR), Éric Ciotti could take the lead of the political party after the elections which will be held on the weekends of December 3 and 10.
This Friday, December 2 marks the end of the campaign for Eric Ciotti and the two other Republican presidential candidates. A battle that ends in almost general indifference; Indeed, a survey released by the HuffPost revealed that more than one in two French people were not even aware of such a campaign. The right can be reassured that it is only party supporters who will vote on the weekends of December 3 and December 10 in the event of a second round.
Éric Ciotti is in a good position to take the reins of the Republican party. Recently interviewed by the polling institute Odexa, voters identified the MP for Alpes-Maritimes as the favourite: 41% of party supporters would like the politician to succeed Christian Jacob as president of a right-wing political party in the midst of a quest for identity. However, a paradoxical element, Éric Ciotti is the candidate who is the subject of the strongest rejection by LR sympathizers with 26% of those polled who “reject” him against 24% for Aurélien Pradié and only 18% for Bruno Retailleau. The candidate’s personality does not really leave the right indifferent.
The Nice politician dreams of being the leader “of a union of right-wing voters behind the Republicans” as he indicated on France info beginning of November. The candidate for the presidency of the LR party always defends an identity version of politics, he who assures “to love France, its history” and refuses that we come “to impose on us tomorrow a culture not in conformity with that which we inherited”. In his program campaign, entitled “So that France remains France”, he rejects any possibility of an alliance with the Emmanuel Macron camp; political agreement yet desired by 45% of Republican members according to the same Odexa poll.
A divisive candidacy
Far from being unanimous, the candidate no longer wants to “apologize” for leading right-wing politics, declared Eric Ciotti in remarks reported by France info last November. “Since 2007 and Nicolas Sarkozy’s victory, we have lost 80% of our voters. To bring them back home, we must no longer apologize for being on the right,” he insisted. His candidacy for the LR presidency – beyond dividing supporters – splits within his own party. Among the reproaches against the candidate, his preference for the far-right candidate Eric Zemmour against Emmanuel Macron during the presidential election of 2022. Since then, Éric Ciotti has distanced himself from Éric Zemmour, aware of the inconvenience caused in his political class.
In mid-November, following the revelations of the Chained Duck and of Release, the national financial prosecutor’s office opened an investigation into the jobs held by his ex-companion, Caroligne Magne, who allegedly held various positions between 2007 and 2006. Investigations have been launched for embezzlement of public funds, breach of trust and concealment of these offences. These accusations were not used by his competitors for the party presidency. Aurélien Pradié had declared at the microphone ofEuropean 1 that “it is not because an investigation has been opened that we are guilty, and I trust both Eric Ciotti and the justice of my country.”
No 2027 presidential candidacy for Ciotti
Éric Ciotti, although his party’s presidential candidate does not see himself running for president in 2027. This is also one of the strengths of his campaign, in addition to his support for Laurent Wauquiez. The deputy made it one of his campaign promises: if he becomes LR president, he will support the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional council in the race of 2027. A friendship or a strategic political agreement so. As stated the expressby this promise Eric Ciotti wishes to capture “part of the popularity” of Laurent Wauquiez.
A promise that is not unanimous on the benches of the Republicans and Julien Dive, LR deputy from Aisne, denounced this attitude. “It is a mistake to immediately designate the person who could be our candidate because he would become the target of our opponents,” he said on 20 minutes. Same story for those close to Bruno Retailleau, the media reported that some LRs already feared future deadlines to come such as the Europeans of 2024: if it goes badly, “it disqualifies him”.