Seven Republican senators, accompanied by the former head of the party’s 2019 European list François-Xavier Bellamy, bring their sponsorship to the far-right candidate. A “democratic” gesture, they assure, which does not however hide the ideological porosity between the two camps.
A pure democratic gesture, they swear hand on heart. Facing a “democratic nonsense”, namely the difficulties encountered by several contenders for the Elysée to collect the 500 mandatory sponsorships to compete in the election, a handful of LR senators as well as the European deputy François-Xavier Bellamy, announced to bring their signature to the Maurrassian candidate Eric Zemmour. The gesture would only aim, according to those concerned, to guarantee everyone the right to participate in the supreme investiture.
“The only thing that matters is that all the candidates who represent something in public opinion, and Eric Zemmour obviously has his place in this debate, can stand in the presidential election.was thus justified this Thursday Bellamy, on Europe 1. It is fundamental.” The one who carried the LR flag at the 2019 Europeans (and won 8.2% of the votes), assures him: “My sponsorship is not worth support. I am committed, I am committed, I will keep this loyalty in this political family. But adds that in the event of a second round between Emmanuel Macron and Eric Zemmour, his voice will go… to the far right. An ambiguity reflecting the tearing of a political family torn between the liberal line of the Head of State, loyalty to Pécresse and the identity and security sirens of the far right.
“Zemmour is the expression of our renunciations”
Before Bellamy, six LR senators had announced in a press release on Wednesday to bring their signature to the former CNews columnist. “This sponsorship is not worth supportalso took care to highlight the generous signatories. It is intended to contribute to the proper functioning of one of the oldest democracies in Europe which is struggling today under the incredulous eyes of a large number of French people. Blessed bread for Zemmour, who has been insisting for years that he is the only one to represent the right, in the tradition of Jacques Chirac’s RPR. The admirer of Pétain thus sent a warm thank you to these “brave” senators, “lover of democracy”.
Responding to the appeal of the head of the Senate Gérard Larcher and the president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF), the mayor of Cannes David Lisnard, who both encouraged elected officials to sponsor a candidate regardless of his political edge , these parliamentarians, good students, therefore chose Zemmour. A random ? Not really, looking at the profile and background of the signatories.
Thus of the senator of the Rhone, Etienne Blanc. The former MP for Ain has never really hidden his shared views with the far-right candidate. “Zemmour is the expression of our renunciations”he alarmed in January in progress, while recalling his loyalty to his political family. The boss of the Lyon municipal right had already provoked strong reactions in November, after a declaration in November to the JDD in which he wondered about the role of Vichy in the deportation of the Jews.
union of rights
Among the other LR senators helping Zemmour in his sponsorship race, there is also Sébastien Meurant. The senator from Val d’Oise has been displaying for months his proximity to the ideas of the far right. “The great replacement is on the way”he wrote in September in the magazine Le New curator, headed by Paul-Marie Couteaux, a former European deputy champion of the Union of Rights. A longtime supporter of a dialogue with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, Meurant has been active for months building a network of right-wing elected officials to support Zemmour.
The senator of Ain Sylvie Goy-Chavent has also displayed her Zemmourian sympathies for a while. “I don’t know if Zemmour is radicalized, but he has the right to say good things”she defended herself in December, to the Progress. Another elected LR to bring his sponsorship to Zemmour, Philippe Pemezec. The senator from La Manche and ex-mayor of Plessis-Robinson (Hauts-de-Seine) is also a defender of rapprochement with the far right. “We must be able to build bridges”between LR and RN, he said on Public Senate, in 2018.
For the time being, all assure it: these sponsorships are not worth support. “The candidate of our political family is Valérie Pécresse”, is keen to remind Bellamy. Does the fear of being kicked out of the party play into his gazelle modesty towards the far-right candidate? At the beginning of January, after the rallying of the deputy of Loir-et-Cher Guillaume Peltier to the Zemmour camp, the boss of the LR Christian Jacob had pronounced his exclusion in stride. Contacted this Wednesday, the Republicans have not, for the time being, reacted to these sponsorships of elected LR.