Alone against all. This Tuesday, February 7, the staff of the Republicans (LR) meets at 8:30 a.m. at 238, rue de Vaugirard. Aurélien Pradié is late, due to a media obligation. A morning on Public Sénat, that cannot be refused. The executive vice-president of LR is protected from the Parisian cold in the sad HQ of the right, not from the icy welcome reserved for him.
The deputy of Lot, who swept aside the last concessions of Elisabeth Borne on pensions, exasperated the party leadership. A man of “successive red lines” is depicted, devoured by his ambition to be. What is he looking for? Each elected official has his own interpretation, between political analysis and psychological expertise. All of this might make you smile, if a totem reform of the right was not at stake. The majority needs the votes of the right to have the text adopted without 49.3, including those of Aurélien Pradié and his relatives.
“You touch the DNA of the right”
The Lotois knows that a throw of tomatoes awaits him within the Strategic Committee, a body favorable to the government project. Everyone goes there with their pike. Julien Aubert, vice-president of LR: “With our divisions, we pass for idiots.” Jean-François Copé, former boss of the UMP: “You touch the DNA of the right […] We all understood that you want to be President of the Republic.” Bruno Retailleau, with execrable relations with Aurélien Pradié, read aloud an uncharitable statement held on Public Senate. The secretary general of LR Annie Genevard notes that he co-signed an amendment aimed at deleting article 7 of the reform postponing the legal age to 64 years, he who ensures that he no longer opposes the measure.
Aurélien Pradié pleads good faith and gets rid of the mistigri of the division. “Among the deputies hostile to the reform, some are close to Bertrand or Wauquiez!”, He defends himself. Reply from Jean-François Copé: “If we open the breach, everyone feels authorized.” Eric Ciotti is less virulent, and renews his call for unity. He has made his accounts: between 35 and 40 LR deputies must support the law for it to be adopted. The man – hardly helped by the discretion of Laurent Wauquiez – plays his leadership here. “You are in the minority”, reminds the Nice to the third man of Congress LR. “He was conciliatory on the form”, notes a participant.
In private, it’s something else. This apostle of a reforming right does not take off against the deputy. And does not curb the ardor of elected officials ready to do battle publicly with him. At the end of the disciplinary council, Aurélien Pradié finds his bravado tone. “I am ready to crystallize the collective pathologies of those who criticize me”. “He is in permanent duplicity”, laments a manager.
Imbroglio on long careers
To understand this bout of fever, you have to go back to January 31. At the end of the morning, the LR deputies discuss in a group meeting around the pension reform. Eric Ciotti and the boss of the LR group at the Assembly Olivier Marleix are expected the next day at Matignon for a meeting with Elisabeth Borne. They need a negotiating mandate. Not easy, given the internal divisions. Aurélien Pradié and his relatives, heralds of a popular right, want a gesture for long careers. A compromise is found: a derogation from the age of 64 will be requested for employees who started working before the age of 21, who could leave after 43 years of contributions. Questioned three times by the deputy of Savoie Emilie Bonnivard, Aurélien Pradié undertakes to support the text if this request is satisfied.
At Matignon, the Prime Minister remains silent. White smoke emerges on Sunday, February 6. In an interview at JDD, it proposes extending the long career system to those who started working between the ages of 20 and 21. The management of LR welcomes this progress, Aurélien Pradié enrages against a “deception”. In the weekly then on Twitter, the Lotois requires that only one quarter of contribution instead of five is enough to integrate the device. He invokes in defense an “amendment co-signed by all LR deputies”.
When she browses the social network, MP LR Veronique Louwagie is flabbergasted. “Aurélien Pradié’s proposal does not correspond to the spirit of the group”, confides the vice-president of the finance committee. Olivier Marleix gears up in an interview with Figaro. Aurélien Pradié and his relatives, on the other hand, say they are faithful to the oath of January 31. “The amendment is not understood by some who signed it or else they are in bad faith”, thunders the deputy of Pas-de-Calais Pierre-Henri Dumont.
“What collective adventure are we still carrying together?”
Here is the right unable to agree on the content of one of its own amendments. “What collective adventure are we still carrying together?” Asks a deputy. Eric Ciotti then exchanges with Aurélien Pradié and Pierre-Henri Dumont. An exceptional group meeting is organized on Monday evening. The atmosphere there is gloomy. “Clan”, sums up an elected official. Eric Ciotti recalls that he must negotiate with the government and agree with the LR senators under a clear “mandate”. And fears that statements in the press and other outbids will undermine its credibility.
Aurélien Pradié pleads consistency, he who has judged since the internal campaign that the contribution period must prevail over the starting age. “I have not deviated from my line,” he assures L’Express. His critics have fun observing his long intellectual transhumance. Véronique Louwagie criticizes him for never having addressed his latest complaint internally. “Don’t be dishonest,” he tells her. The two chosen ones will explain themselves. Olivier Marleix asks him to write down his requests. Confidence reigns.
Three days after the arrival of the reform in the Assembly, everyone remains in their corridor. Aurélien Pradié swears to serve his people. By maintaining pressure on the executive, it would allow the right to make progress and not disappear from the radar screens. “If we had stuck to the Christmas deal, what would we have gotten on long careers? Nothing. Borne would not have moved”, he judges. The Lotois above all claims a strategic divergence with Eric Ciotti in view of 2027. He judges that the salvation of the right passes through a reconquest of the working classes by means of a frank break with Macronism. “The right will not rebuild itself if it does not mount a firm act of resistance to Macronie.” The deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes, on the other hand, wants to reconnect as a priority with the right-wing voters seduced by the head of state.
“It’s not from the popular right, but a Pradié line”
This strategic debate is exhausting Aurélien Pradié’s opponents. They only see in him a devouring ambition. “The Pradié line consists in constantly differentiating itself. It is not the popular right, but a Pradié line. Period,” confided Bruno Retailleau in December. “He is capable of bringing the party to its knees for its ambitions”, mocks the vice-president of LR Agnès Evren.
Aurélien Pradié, he digs his furrow. The man has acquired unprecedented media visibility since joining the Assembly. Elected officials are reduced to exegesis of these remarks. Here, we judge that the Lotois is looking for an excuse not to vote for the reform. There, we judge that his act of rebellion will not last. To be on the fringes of the party would be too expensive. Didn’t he accept the position of executive vice-president of LR, he who wanted to be the only number 2? The group’s management notes that it is more discreet about its rule relating to the single “quarter” contributed before the age of 21. “He’s going to bed,” a manager wants to believe. Just ask the interested party. “Do you want to be able to vote for this reform?”, we slip this Tuesday, February 7 to Aurélien Pradié. “It’s a good question, smiles the person concerned. If we obtain this achievement, it would not bother me. Afterwards, I would not gladly vote for a reform of Macron.” Please believe it.