End clap. The president of the Republicans Christian Jacob announced this Friday that he would not seek a new mandate as a deputy during the legislative elections next June. Revealed by LCP then denied during the day at Release by the entourage of the president of the party, the information was finally confirmed by the person concerned himself to AFP. This decision, he explained, was “taken for two or three years”. The leader of the right clarified that he would still be a substitute on the list of Isabelle Périgault, the mayor of Plessis-Feu-Aussous, a rural town in Seine-et-Marne.
The former mayor of Provins was elected for the first time in 1995, in the wake of Jacques Chirac’s victory in the presidential election. An uninterrupted mandate since, except between 2002 and 2007, period during which the former president of the Republic appointed him several times minister. A faithful Chiraquian, Jacob also chaired the UMP group (which became the Republicans in 2015) for nearly nine years in the National Assembly.
“We are either LR or LREM”
Renowned cunning, anxious to appease the internal tensions in his political family, the former farmer was elected in October 2019 at the head of the party, after the rout in the Europeans. With a seemingly simple mission: rally the militants and prevent the tenors of the party from tearing each other apart. If he was elected for five years rue de Vaugirard (the party headquarters), Christian Jacob could decide to leave this post after the June election, which promises to be particularly complicated for the right. Until then, he intends to fight the battle “with the support of the entire management team”he said Tuesday at a press conference, citing in particular Laurent Wauquiez and Xavier Bertrand.
Since the re-election of Emmanuel Macron, the Republicans have been torn between two lines. One advocating a rapprochement with more or less conditions for the presidential majority. The other defending the principle of independence at all costs, both in the face of the sirens of Macronism and the calls from the foot of the far right. On Tuesday, party officials addressed these issues during a strategic council. At the end of this meeting, a motion was adopted to affirm that LR “carries its own voice, that of a “independent and popular right which must exist by itself”. “I repeat: we are either LR or LREM. Everyone makes their own choice. This line applies to everyone”thus supported Jacob in Le Figaro, April 26. For the boss of the party, the following weeks could be summed up in the following issue: to avoid too much bleeding from LR deputies tempted by Macronism. A task that promises to be difficult. This Friday, the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes Marine Brenier, close to Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice and support of the head of state, decided to slam the door of the Republicans. Next on the list could be the boss of LR deputies in the Assembly, Damien Abad.