To the chagrin of many French people, Edouard Philippe has only been mayor of Le Havre since early July. The 50-year-old politician left his post as Prime Minister to Jean Castex, nicknamed “Monsieur deconfinement”, and currently under fire in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. On the contrary, Edouard Philippe is at the height of his popularity: at the end of September 2020, the Odoxa barometer for France Inter and the regional press ranked the former Prime Minister in first place among the favorite political figures of the inhabitants of the hexagon. What to offer him a boulevard for the presidential election of 2022? Like the French, Le Figaro the question arises in an article published on Friday January 8, 2021. So will Edouard Philippe line up behind Emmanuel Macron or will he chart his own path … in search of a voice? The first is anyway "convinced" that the second will stand for election.
Edouard Philippe, nicknamed "Pongo" for his loyalty (and his two-tone beard)
“He can't stand it when some speak on his behalf ", assures a friend of Edouard Philippe. “He will talk about the presidential election when it is time to talk about it. " The Republican mayor of Toulon, Hubert Falco, believes he knows that the ex-prime minister "is always very clear in saying that he will be loyal to the President of the Republic. ” He specifies : "To think otherwise is to misunderstand him." And our colleagues from Figaro to add: “His relatives, elected officials, his former ministers are categorical and insist – by certainty or not superstition? – on the very great "loyalty" of the mayor of Le Havre to the president. A way to cut short any rumor of a personal ambition for 2022 (…) Even if some LREM deputies have renamed the elected Norman ‘Pongo’, from the name of the cartoon dog 101 Dalmatians, in reference to his two-tone beard and his loyalty. But loyalty does not mean docility (…) Those close to the mayor of Le Havre assure him: this is not his intention. At least not for now. ”
Emmanuel Macron will soon award the Legion of Honor to Edouard Philippe
If all goes as planned, Emmanuel Macron and Edouard Philippe, who have not seen each other since October 2020, should meet again at the start of the year for a “Highly anticipated trip” : the President of the Republic must present the Legion of Honor to the former Prime Minister from whom he had decided to separate. The occasion, perhaps, to discuss the elections? While many politicians are already expressing their desire to side with Edouard Philippe if he does come forward, Emmanuel Macron may well need his former colt to run for re-election. Recall that in terms of the Trafalgar coup, the husband of Brigitte Macron knows it: the one who was himself Minister – of the Economy, under the government Manuel Valls – had abandoned François Hollande in August 2016 to unveil his own presidential ambitions less than three months later. "He betrayed me methodically", had at the time let go François Hollande, according to The world. So you don't teach old monkeys to make faces.
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