He will have been the troll of Valérie Pécresse’s campaign. Not only did Nicolas Sarkozy not support the right-wing candidate for the 2022 presidential election, but he continued to distill harsh criticism against her in the press. And since the first round, the former head of state has called for a vote for Emmanuel Macron and is working behind the scenes for a group of LR deputies to join the re-elected president.
This behavior of Nicolas Sarkozy has tarnished his icon image on the right. Number of activists The Republicans have been disappointed or even annoyed by the former president’s lack of solidarity with his political family. Even more so as they continued to campaign despite the difficulties of their candidate.
Symbol of this divorce between the base and the former tutelary figure of the right, the name of Nicolas Sarkozy was briefly whistled by part of the assistance during the last major Parisian meeting of Valérie Pécresse in early April. A situation unthinkable a few years ago.
As far as LR elected officials are concerned, many continued to parade through its offices in Paris, seeking information, advice or support, throughout the campaign. Out of fear or respect, no one attacked him publicly. But off, the reviews were already strong. ” It’s sad what he’s doing “, We released in mid-March a figure of the right. Even his relatives seemed embarrassed.
In the Pécresse camp, we ended up resigning ourselves, praying that Nicolas Sarkozy would remain silent until the first round. Unable to send the patriarch upside down.
Young guard LR wants to move on
After the first round, Nicolas Sarkozy is finally out of the woods to support Emmanuel Macron and invite the right to ” respond to the call to come together of the outgoing president. For the former president, the survival of LR goes through a coalition agreement with Macronie.
This position, finally public, gave even more leverage to criticism from the younger generation at LR. Several elected thirty-year-olds, including the secretary general of the party, Aurélien Pradié, are now openly calling for Sarkozy to turn the page. And even the boss of the party, Christian Jacob, does not seem far from storing it in the radius of memories.
So Sarkozy and the right, is it really over? Not sure. ” It’s true, Sarkozy was the referent, it caused trouble, but politics goes fast “, relativizes an old veteran of the right.
Will Sarkozy’s operation to link up with Macronism succeed? The party decided to go to the legislative elections in complete independence. “ If it’s a disaster in June, we will have to say that he was right “, adds this former minister.