This is not entirely a surprise. The descent into the field, as candidate for the French presidency for the Républicains, of Michel Barnier, the tough Brexit negotiator for the European Union, however, changes the picture of the republican challenge to the presidency of Emmanuel Macron but also the strong hold on the electorate of the sovereign Marine Le Pen. Almost at the same time, the news of the withdrawal of Laurent Wauquiez, the former president of the party who had seen his turn towards the radical positions of the Rassemblement national fail in the European elections.
Barnier: attack on two fronts
Barnier attacks on both fronts. A little ungenerous towards France (“The country is bad,” he told Le Figaro; “Our influence has been backtracking for ten years, contrary to that of Germany”), Barnier intends to distinguish himself from verticalism (and from narcissism) by Macron. If the president likes to talk about the «first members of the consortium», he from Savoy, where he was born, replies as a mountaineer: «Here, in the mountains, we know that everyone is necessary in a consortium. I will never say, of someone who is nothing. I got some idea of the presidential function. It requires strength, vision but also humility ». “The President of the Republic” – he added – “cannot do everything alone”.
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To counter Le Pen’s workhorses, Barnier instead proposes a “moratorium” on immigration of three / five years: a block of automatic authorizations that allows reviewing all procedures, making agreements with the countries of origin of immigrants and with European partners. Defense and research, the costs of which must be brought to 3% of GDP, and an international effort against terrorists also in the Sahel (from where Macron wants to gradually disengage), enrich his program.
Pécresse: between Merkel and Thatcher
Barnier did not specify whether he will participate in the Republican primaries, which have not yet been called. However, many others have already applied. The rough Wauquiez has retired, but Valérie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region who wants to be “two thirds Merkel and one third Thatcher”, is ready to submit to the vote of the members. If it were the only candidate of the Republican right, however, it would not collect more than 13-14%, insufficient to access the second round.
Ciotti: the “hard” of Italian origins
Wauquiez’s retirement perhaps gives some more chances to Éric Ciotti, a Nice native of distant Treviso origins, former spokesman for Nicolas Sarkozy and above all former «Monsieur Sicurezza», in the old neo-Galilist Ump party: he is very right-oriented, rigid on issues concerning crime , immigration and Islam.