Take the beautiful Murat staircase in the main vestibule of the Elysée, dine under the Baccarat crystal chandeliers in the hall of the Hôtel de Ville de Paris, laugh and cry under the portrait of Napoleon in his coronation costume in a salon of the Senate… Then, the harsh artificial light of the cold, modern offices of the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and Financial and Tax Crimes. Dizzying heteroclimism. Seven days of the strange life of Nicolas Sarkozy. “The chameleon week”, smile his relatives. Politicians, people and cops, become, by the grace of the former president, the characters of a reinvented commedia dell’arte.
Scene 1. Distant noises of traffic, sirens of all kinds.
Entry of Emmanuel Macron and Nicolas Sarkozy. The two protagonists take place in the presidential plane.
Emmanuel Macron (played by himself): “How do you feel about things?”
Nicolas Sarkozy (played by himself): “France leans to the right.”
Tuesday, June 6, the Head of State, barely out of the office of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the host of the rue de Miromesnil interpreted this courteous skit in the air, according to information from the Parisianon the presidential plane between Berlin and Paris.
Gathered for the first time since the conviction of Nicolas Sarkozy to one year in prison and three years of deprivation of his civic rights in the wiretapping affair, the two men who address each other and maintain for each other as many I believe that mistrust have, for an hour, conversed on the future of the country and this second Macronian five-year term. If the ex-boss of the right did not utter the word “coalition” which he does not like, according to his entourage, he pleaded for “The Republicans and the majority to agree on a few texts”, and that his “political family plays an active role within the majority”. And the government. Not completely devoid of pugnacity, the former president, from the 2022 presidential campaign, had defended the scenario of a government platform naturally involving the appointment of right-wing ministers. Generous as usual, Nicolas Sarkozy, this June evening, donated his ideas for Matignon and for some ministries. In his humble opinion – and too bad if he has already said it! -, Christine Lagarde, the president of the ECB, would make a much better Prime Minister than this Julien Denormandie, not political for a penny, of which he read in the press that he was approached for the post. Too tone on tone, too fragile, he slipped in substance to the president. You need a solid, identified, tough team. Take, at random, Franck Louvrier, the mayor of La Baule and former chief communicator of Nicolas Sarkozy, here is someone who could become a minister. As for the European ones that are looming, don’t they offer an opportunity for rallying? “Together, everything becomes possible”, proclaimed the winning candidate of the 2007 presidential election. Could the best way to avoid an electoral rout for the LRs which would condemn them to disappearance be to draw up common lists? And to hell with those who, in his political family, vilify this rapprochement. The general interest above all.
A few weeks earlier, Nicolas Sarkozy read Chaos Engineers by Giuliano da Empoli. The author of Kremlin Mage describes with acuity the way in which the spin doctors populist leaders change the rules of political debate and inscribe radical, often conspiratorial propaganda, perceived by them as the truth, in the retinas of their constituents. He was so excited about the try that he invited da Empoli for the second time to lunch the last week of May. Marine Le Pen is not Donald Trump but her progression justifies that we take a little trouble to slow her down. Yes, when France is going badly, “not to participate in recovery attempts is to be an actor in the disintegration”, decreed the person concerned.
Two days post-Elysée, Napoleon lounge, Luxembourg Palace. Scene 2. Nicolas Sarkozy (still played by himself) slips a few words to his friends. Ravi: “Very nice date with the president.” Confident: “He wants to accelerate.” Serious: “I told him what I thought was good for the country.” Skeptical, all the same: “The advice given to him is never acted upon.” Regret quickly dissipated: this Thursday evening, in the Senate, we celebrate friendship; politics will stay away. The animator Arthur receives the Legion of Honor from the hands of his friend of thirty years, Nicolas Sarkozy. The family, the TV friends rub shoulders with some politicians, exceptionally in the minority in this palace of the Republic. Bernard Cazeneuve and Elie Semoun, rare image. Standing in the front row, Brigitte Macron listens to Nicolas Sarkozy’s speech alongside Rachida Dati and Carla Bruni. Second evening of the week that the first lady shares with the former head of state.
The day before, Wednesday June 7 (scene 3), they worked as a duo to raise funds for pediatric cancer research at the Gustave-Roussy Institute. A gala dinner organized at the town hall of Paris, and which brought together for its third edition, Anne Hidalgo, Brigitte Macron and Nicolas Sarkozy, accomplices. At that moment, did the city councilor of Paris imagine that, the next day, his table neighbor who was so warm for the time being would laugh heartily when he heard Arthur joke: “Pierre Charon [NDLR : sénateur de Paris, proche de Nicolas Sarkozy et organisateur de cette remise de décoration] re-read my speech, he removed all the jokes except those on Anne Hidalgo “? When delivering his, he, Nicolas Sarkozy, did not make fun of anyone.
He had “moving and funny” words, according to a guest, for Arthur, this child from Casablanca who has become king of the French PAF who now contemplates “All of Paris who has come to congratulate and applaud him”. “The list of your companies is longer than that of your diplomas”, complimented Sarkozy, this president many times minister, mayor of Neuilly, deputy, party boss, who did neither the ENA nor Sciences Po. ” Wealth of a life”, as summarized by one of his close friends, who, after a week of political advice, social events, propelled him to the premises of the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption and finance and taxation, in Nanterre, to be heard in the judicial investigation into the retraction of the accusations of Libyan financing of his presidential campaign in 2007. A few hours later, a dozen police officers arrived at the Parisian home of the former president in order to search him. “He takes it very calmly,” we swear around him. It would take much more to prevent him from providing his good advice – as a retired politician, of course. Friday June 16, he receives Olivier Marleix, the leader of the LR deputies.