Jacques Serais // Photo credit: Pascal POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP
modified to
07:07, June 16, 2024
Nicolas Sarkozy takes a stand. The former head of state gave a long interview this Sunday morning to the Journal du Dimanche in which he criticized Emmanuel Macron’s decision: “This dissolution constitutes a major risk for the country as well as for the president.” The former president also gives his opinion on Les Républicains.
His speech was eagerly awaited since Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly. Nicolas Sarkozy gave a long interview to the Journal du Dimanche in which he criticized the choice of the tenant of the Élysée, but also the choices of Éric Ciotti, president of the Les Républicains party.
“The union of the rights must be done by the voters, not by the general staffs”
The former head of state does not blame Éric Ciotti: “I have never put anyone on trial for offenses of opinion. (…) He has every right to express a political orientation,” explains he while regretting the method: “Éric Ciotti should have submitted to the governing bodies (…) his conviction (…) and suggested to the members to decide by electronic vote. The union of the rights must be done by the voters, not by the staffs.”
The fact remains that the former President of the Republic is against this alliance. For him, “being the deputy of the RN is not an ambition, but an acknowledgment of renunciation”. Nicolas Sarkozy clarifies his position: “I will vote for an LR candidate if he commits to being part of the presidential majority around a program of authority.”
However, the former president believes that the RN “has done work on itself which is undeniable”, fighting it “as if it had not changed, as if there was still Jean-Marie Le Pen ‘detail’ would be a big mistake.” Nicolas Sarkozy says he is much more concerned “by the economic choices” of Jordan Bardella’s party than by the “perfectly artificial” argument of belonging or not to the “republican arc”.