This week’s announcement is made by Michel BarnierFormer EU chief negotiator for Brexit, his plan to run for French president has increased the uncertainty of candidates competing for traditional rights in next spring elections.
The right-wing republic of former President Nicolas Sarkozy is facing an increasingly complex battle to find a 2022 presidential candidate to compete with the centrist. Emmanuel Macron Current polls show that the far-right Marina Le Pen may face each other again in the final.
Barnier joined a long list of politicians who were vying to be elected candidates for the French right.
The 70-year-old former European Commissioner was described by his close allies as a veteran in consensus politics, seeking to unite the right and “reconcile” a divided France that has been hit by the disillusionment and abstention of voters and street protests. Yellow vest move And the current protests Covid Health Pass.
But although Barnier’s role in the Brexit negotiations won him the respect of bureaucrats and diplomats because he is a skilled back-office operator, he is not a household name in the UK. France.
Despite his long political career-he started running for Charles de Gaulle’s 1965 presidential campaign at the age of 14, and later saw him serving in local politics in the Alps and in parliament and government-his image in France is still professional , Slightly serious.
As his grandfather, Barnier had seen the French media question whether he could compete with Macron, France’s youngest post-war leader at the age of 70. Macron had poached from the pro-European center-right base that Barnier was trying to attract. voter.
Les Républicains must decide by late September whether to hold a public primary election to select a puppet. Next year’s presidential election is thought to be unexpected and challenging, which may disrupt the predicted Macron-Le Pen final. But to have a chance, the traditional right must unite behind a candidate.
Barnier defined his political stance this week as “patriots and Europeans,” and his view is “restoring national authority” and controlling immigration. He did not say whether he would agree to participate in a potential Republican primary election.
So far, the main participant in the Les Républicains primary election will be Valérie Pécresse, the head of the wealthy Île-de-France region outside of Paris and the former budget minister under Sarkozy’s leadership. She said it’s time for a female candidate. Her current opinion polls are higher than that of Barnier, and she is better known.
But the debate over the selection of candidates was led by another former minister, Xavier Bertrand, under the leadership of Sarkozy, who now leads the Upper France region in the northeast. His polls are slightly higher than those of Pecres, and when he campaigned for working-class voters across France, he considered himself the only political heavyweight who could defeat Macron and Le Pen. He has announced that he will run for president and has refused to participate in the party’s primary election.
The young former party leader Laurent Wauquiez warned this week against “further divisions”, saying that “right-wing presidential candidates are multiplying at an alarming rate.” He said he would not run by himself.
At the same time, the Socialist Party will meet with leaders who support the mayor of Paris this weekend. Annie Hidalgo, For the presidential candidate.
The socialists have not yet determined how and when they will vote to approve the Hidalgo campaign.
Left-wing voting is currently divided among several potential candidates, including the extreme left Jean-Luc Melanchon Who will definitely run for the election, and the Green Party will elect their candidates in September.
Macron is unlikely to announce his re-election before the beginning of next year. Le Pen has announced that she will run for the election.
