IThey refused the tea or coffee that was offered to them, accepted a simple glass of water… still. In the green room of the Elysée, the leaders of the right, Laurent Wauquiez, Annie Genevard and Bruno Retailleau, were received, Wednesday August 28, for the second time by Emmanuel Macron, who is stretching out his consultations. A courteous exchange, but more tense than the first, while the President of the Republic, who swept aside the candidacy of Lucie Castets (New Popular Front) at Matignon, is now putting pressure on the right to engage in a government coalition, beyond the simple “legislative pact” which she asked him to take over in July, in exchange for support in Parliament.
Read also | Live, new Prime Minister: Emmanuel Macron continues his “consultations” by receiving major local elected officials
Add to your selections
“If you don’t want to come to government, you condemn me to appoint a left-wing personality to Matignon”the president suggested. “The appointment of a prime minister is your responsibility”retorted the leader of the Republicans (LR) deputies. But when the leading trio of the right insisted that Mr. Macron take up the bulk of the measures proposed in their “pact”it was the president’s turn to dodge, hiding behind his role as referee. “Disappointing”Mr. Wauquiez scolded as he left.
For the right, the noose has tightened, as Emmanuel Macron tries to make it bear the responsibility for the blockage. “Wauquiez is stuck”the president said on Monday to a political leader received at the Elysée. “He’s trying to put us in the syringe”admits the head of the LR senators, Bruno Retailleau. Because the longer Mr. Macron drags out his consultations, the more LR’s refusal to enter a government could prove costly for its electorate.
Ship taking on water
For the right, the ridge line is narrow: by formulating a set of “priorities” (revaluation of work, firmness on immigration, fight against the waste of public money, etc.), tied up in their “legislative pact”The Republicans do not want to appear as fueling institutional chaos. But while Laurent Wauquiez is working to recreate a political space for the 2027 presidential election, he believes he has no interest in getting on the deck of a ship that is taking on water and heading straight for the iceberg, since the outgoing president cannot run again in three years. “We want to preserve our freedom”insists Mr. Retailleau, according to whom a coalition would be the guarantee of seeing the return of the “at the same time”, in “bigger”.
You have 55.16% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
