At the Elysée, as at LREM HQ, the file was closely followed. But a few hours before his press conference, this Thursday, May 28, no one seemed to really believe it. The ace. Once again, Gérard Collomb did what he wanted: the political godfather of Emmanuel Macron therefore chose to ally himself with supporters of Laurent Wauquiez, LR president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Within the majority, it is consternation. “It’s desperate, and that’s all that is ugly at the end of a reign,” says a “walker”. Same feeling among local LREM deputies. Or with this minister: “He will have defeat and dishonor. The friends of the dissident David Kimelfeld pester, them, not to have been heard.
“I hope the president will react”
“Wauquiez was the first opponent of Emmanuel Macron at the start of the five-year term. The President has not forgotten it. And he repeats it often, says a faithful. What Collomb did is an affront to the president. Because the head of state was very accommodating with his former mentor, continuing to support him despite his resignation from the Ministry of the Interior in October 2018, with losses and noise and against his advice. A first snub. “Collomb, when he leaves the ministry, there is already an excess of disloyalty and he continues after. Nobody put an end to it, ”sighs a walker.
As of the announcement of this Thursday, some pleaded, behind the scenes, so that the tone changes towards him. “I hope that the president will react, at least to say that he does not support this approach,” breathes a minister. But the Elysee Palace refused to comment. Instructs Stanislas Guerini to react: “Gérard Collomb crosses a red line. I can not endorse such a political agreement, “writes the boss of LREM in a statement, asking” the divestment “of Collomb’s candidate for mayor of Lyon.
” It hurts “
The boss of LREM does not go so far as to pronounce the exclusion of Collomb, claimed by some internally. Who fear to pay this leniency to public opinion. Like this framework of the majority, worried that the party lacks “legibility”. “It hurts a lot,” sums up a minister. “Our values will always be more important than a few seats on a city council,” believes Guerini.
The fact remains that in Paris too, the situation is tense. Colisiers of Agnès Buzyn look to their right, for example in the 5th. What makes the left wing cough, in particular the Secretary of State Marlène Schiappa, candidate in the XIVth.
