The President of Les Républicains (LR) of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Laurent Wauquiez took, on Sunday October 1, a first step towards his candidacy for the Elysée, affirming that he wanted to lead the right towards “a great collective success” in 2027.
“I have measured the cost of serenity and determination to unlock the French Republic,” declared Mr. Wauquiez, who was making his national comeback in front of nearly 500 young activists gathered in Valence – they welcomed him at the cry of “Wauquiez president! “. “And today, I am ready for it,” he continued, in a speech in which he did not explicitly announce his candidacy for the next presidential election.
On the other hand, he tried to explain to activists why he remained discreet on the national scene for the moment, to the great dismay of his supporters, who do not always understand his disappearance. The silence of the president of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, particularly when his party was divided on pension reform, annoyed more than one within LR itself.
Warning on immigration bill
“Some people wonder why I am not fidgety, why I do not monopolize the microphones (…) why I refuse to reproduce the political patterns which have led our country on the slope of decline for forty years,” he said. he explains. But “make no mistake,” he added: “2027 will not be a presidential election like any other. It will be time for the big choice. This is what I will devote all my energy to: leading you once again to great collective success,” he assured to cheers.
“If we prepare for this election like the others, we will lose it like the others. And I refuse this inevitability,” he further declared.
The president of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was on the same line as the party boss, Eric Ciotti, refusing to bring down the government on the budget. “In our family, we do not table motions of censure all over the place for the simple pleasure of bringing down a government, thus taking the risk of adding chaos to the disorder,” he said.
On the other hand, Mr. Wauquiez issued a warning to the executive on the immigration bill. “If a text were to directly collide with what represents for us the heart of the national interest and lead to new calls for even more immigration, then our duty would be to oppose it with all our strength and all institutional means,” he warned.
