Retreat in the countryside
In a press release, the former number 2 of the RN takes note of the impossibility of presenting his candidacy because, according to him, “of a totally locked and flawed sponsorship system”.
And one candidate less… With 51 days to go before the first round of the presidential election, Florian Philippot, herald of the antivax and antipass movements, is withdrawing from the race. “Faced with a totally locked and flawed sponsorship system”the president of the small far-right movement Les Patriotes “take note” in a statement from “the impossibility of going to the end of his candidacy”.
At the last count of the Constitutional Council, the former right arm of Marine Le Pen had only managed to collect one sponsorship. Either as much as the former President of the Republic François Hollande or the President of the Occitanie region Carole Delga, who themselves have never applied…
Last January 14, the former number 2 of the National Front, tactician of the famous demonization of the party announced, in Le Figaro his candidacy for the highest post. “I think our project must be present in the presidential election. I will therefore be a candidate there and will propose something extremely clear: the restoration of all our freedoms”, he explained. It was the next day “of President Macron’s terrible intervention on the health pass”, said Philippot. He then held a launch meeting on October 24 in Aubervilliers. Meeting which had brought together a thousand people.
“Actively participate in the defeat of Emmanuel Macron”
Even if he is now stepping back, Philippot still hears “actively participate in the defeat of Emmanuel Macron”. The one who campaigns for France’s exit from the EU (Frexit) calls on the mayors who had pledged to sponsor him “to grant their signature to a candidate of their choice who has not yet obtained the necessary 500 sponsorships”. He had therefore only validated one, that of Nadine Bienfait-Loisel, mayor of Yville-sur-Seine (Seine-Maritime), who, like him, denounces the “health dictatorship”.
Faced with this low number of supporters, necessarily synonymous with failure, the former number 2 of the RN explains that his teams “aware of an insufficient number of sponsorship promises” have been working for several days “freeze sending signatures” to the Council. Like many other candidates, including “big guys” like Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Philippot calls for a move to a system of citizen sponsorships.
As it stands, Philippot does not yet call for a vote for a particular candidate. But an online consultation of the members of the Patriots, who would be 36,000 according to him, must be organized soon. The only certainty for the moment, the small far-right party intends to present as many candidates as possible in the legislative elections next June. “The Patriots will be massively engaged and represented there and will hold a place of first choice” wants to believe the president of the party in his press release. Not won.
Update: 4:35 p.m. with background.