Do you have to go through the primary box? The right launched Saturday, August 29 in La Baule lthorny debate on the timing and method of appointment of his candidate for the presidential election of 2022. Nearly 500 people were gathered for these summer schools of the Republicans of Loire-Atlantique, the first stage of a comeback where the right, carried by municipal authorities having consolidated its territorial anchoring, counts well turn the page on the rout of 2017.
More who to wear the colors of the right in the next presidential election ? The President of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) François Baroin, regularly mentioned, must clarify its intentions in the fall. “Today nobody crushes the match, we have no natural candidate”, assured Mr. Retailleau to the press, whose statements in recent days have suggested that he himself could run in a primary.
The 2017 primary? ” We saw the result “
Three main options are possible for appointing a candidate: reserving the vote to members only (primary closed), extending it beyond the party (primary open) or restricting it to the leadership alone.
“We have to find a tie-breaker” without that “This selection takes place between the self, the activists must be able to participate”, supported Bruno Retailleau, pleading for “A designation process that is clear before Christmas” and “A designation before summer” next. The President of the Senate Gérard Larcher also called for “Find a tie-breaker system beyond party boundaries”.
“Having imitated the left has led us to disaster”
This would put LR dissidents like Xavier Bertrand or Valérie Pécresse back on track, who herself made her comeback on Saturday in Mennecy (Essonne) where she wanted “Raise the Republic”.
Since 2015, LR’s statutes provide for “A primary open to all citizens adhering to the values of the movement”. More the 2017 episode, with the designation of François Fillon, has left traces in a party sensitive to divisions. “A bad memory for some of us”, recognized Bruno Retailleau.
“The 2017 open primary was intended to avoid a Lepenist candidate in the second round. We saw the result “, laughed Franck Louvrier. “Having imitated the left led us to disaster and the wounds afterwards are very difficult to overcome”, stressed Rachida Dati. Republican President Christian Jacob does not hide his personal mistrust of this open primary.
Gather the right from the first round
In La Baule, the idea of keeping this process seemed to have little acceptance among activists: “With an open primary, we dynamite the party from the inside!” “, says Jean-Louis, who prefers to remain anonymous. “We need a closed primary, without the leftists distorting the result”, according to Jean-François Cuignet, LR member and member of Sens commun.
Calling for the rally, Gérard Larcher launched a veiled warning on Saturday: “Nothing would be worse than a fratricidal competition in the first round of the presidential election”, synonymous with a new defeat. According to him, “Our family would not recover”. “I don’t want to restart a losing machine”, echoed Bruno Retailleau, evoking “The risk of suicide” for the French right.
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