Nearly twenty years, Eric Ciotti exercised a dream job. Presiding over the UMP in 2003 was the promise of a bright future. The party occupied power by simple pendulum effect with the left, its boss was promised to the Elysée. The heir to the RPR was a “launch pad”, as the expression goes. That time is over. By taking the head of the Republicans (LR) on December 11, the ambitious deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes has embarked on a priestly mission. We summarize: the new leader of the right must bring together a divided party, revive a formation shunned by the French and demonstrate his independence from his weighty supporters. “I wish Eric courage”, smiles an LR pillar.
Eric Ciotti is not helped by the calendar. The government will present on January 10 its pension reform, object of division on the right. Some deputies refuse any postponement of the legal age, others want to push it back to 65 years. Supported by Olivier Marleix, Eric Ciotti outlines the beginning of a compromise: a postponement to 63 years of age by 2027 accompanied by an acceleration of the increase in the contribution period.
The retirement test
This fragile synthesis will be put to the test at the start of the school year, as ideological considerations mingle with partisan logic. Eric Ciotti wants to be the guardian of the consistency of the right, which advocated a postponement to 65 years a year ago. “We have a requirement for unity between the Senate, the Assembly, the party, but also a requirement for unity within the group in the Assembly”, he summarizes to L’Express. The man will have to embark his peers. Otherwise, any cacophony will be attributed to him. Does a divided right on pensions still have a future?
Unit on major reforms. Unity, too, in the functioning of the party. Eric Ciotti suffers from a divisive image due to his right-handed positions. Several local elected officials slammed the door of LR as soon as his victory was announced. The internal campaign has left its mark, particularly in the relationship between the Senate and the National Assembly.
The president of LR must gather his family. The constitution of a new management team, expected at the beginning of January, will be closely observed. His unfortunate opponent Bruno Retailleau will not enter the management but wants his 46.3% to be taken into account in the new organization. He watches over the fate of those close to him, such as Othman Nasrou or François-Xavier Bellamy. Names are circulating: Aurélien Pradié could take the post of number 2 of LR and Michele Tabarot the presidency of the National Investiture Commission (CNI). For a time, MEP Agnès Evren should not become Secretary General of the party. She assures that the position must go to someone close to Eric Ciotti, she who remained neutral during the campaign.
The issue of emancipation
Gathering is essential, but not sufficient. Under the presidency of Christian Jacob, the right was united but did not begin an ideological overhaul to regain the ear of the French. Eric Ciotti will have to get down to it. The man led an effective campaign – he recalled his regal firmness and his economic liberalism – but hardly deployed any new proposals. It’s urgent. Falling to 4.7% during the last presidential election, LR arouses a feeling worse than the disappointment of the Sarkozy years: indifference, the last stage before final oblivion.
To carry out this work, Eric Ciotti will have to demonstrate his freedom. Several elected officials anticipate a president restrained by his supporters: Laurent Wauquiez, whom he promises to appoint as a candidate for 2027, the Sarkozysts, the Chiraquians… “He is not free, mocks a hierarch. He is going to spin an important post to Pradié, who will try to stand out.” “He’s going to have a lot of sons in his paw,” notes another.
Impossible to mention Eric Ciotti without addressing the Wauquiez case. The two men formed an unofficial tandem during the campaign. The Elysée is yours, the party is mine. Eric Ciotti will lead from 2023 a change in the statutes of the party to allow the designation of the boss of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The former minister, he remains discreet. He will continue in the coming months his strategy of media sobriety, despite some sprains in the time of the internal campaign. His entourage promises that the party will not be co-managed and that Eric Ciotti will be the only master on board. “When Ciotti composes the political office, he will not speak about it to Wauquiez perhaps?”, smiles a framework. We will judge on parts. For Eric Ciotti, 2023 must be a founding year. Not a waiting room before 2024, its Europeans and the launch of the presidential battle.