Nicolas Sarkozy pleads for “finding a leader who is able to bring together the friends of Éric Zemmour, Emmanuel Macron and Éric Ciotti” for the presidential election of 2027, regretting that Laurent Wauquiez plays “little arm”, in an interview with Parisian. “Without a rally, the right has no chance of winning,” said the former President of the Republic, recalling that “(its) majority, at the time, ranged from Bernard Kouchner to Philippe de Villiers”.
About the putative candidates for the 2027 presidential election, “there is a platoon with a certain number of quality personalities – Gérald Darmanin, Bruno Le Maire, Édouard Philippe, Laurent Wauquiez – who can apply”, notes the 2012 loser. But, about the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, “if you want to win Roland-Garros and you are in the final, it is not by playing small arms that you will succeed”, he observes, then that Laurent Wauquiez has maintained remarkable discretion for several months.
“You have to take risks”
“If you want to become President of the Republic, you have to take risks. One thing is certain, if you calculate small, you will fail”, continues Nicolas Sarkozy, considering that “a real leader must be built in combat, this is not someone you take by the hand and say, ‘It will be you'”.
Asked about the immigration bill which is to be presented to Parliament this fall, and which could contain both a repressive component on expulsions and an outstretched hand for immigrant workers, particularly in sectors in tension, “I would simply say to my friends (LR): if the text goes in the right direction, it must be voted on”, pleads Nicolas Sarkozy, considering that “a government party must assume its responsibilities”.
“Regularize immigrants in shortage occupations, why not. Basically, it’s not a bad idea”, he considers, defending however the idea of ”shifting the two subjects in time”, that is to say, to resort to two separate pieces of legislation, an idea shared by certain ranks of the majority.