the essential
If he says he “hears” the anger of the European elections, the outgoing majority MP is going back into the campaign with the objective of avoiding what he calls “chaos”. Interview.
Overwhelming success of the RN in your constituency (27.52%), dissolution of the Assembly, alliances and disunity… How are you experiencing the current situation?
We were told these results, but I always had in my mind that Aveyron was an exception, a land of moderation which does not throw itself into the arms of the extremes… So, I do not hide the fact that seeing the RN so high was a shock, despite several signals such as the farmers’ protest movement in recent weeks. The mood of the moment was finally reflected in the ballot boxes… The Jean Lassalle vote (8.11% in Aveyron) is just as revealing: it is a fed-up of the rural community who do not feel listened to, not heard and even stigmatized.
We also hear an increasingly strong rejection of Emmanuel Macron… Do you perceive it on the ground?
If I decided to go back to the campaign, it is precisely in a state of mind of listening. I want to understand what we didn’t do well, beyond a record to defend. More than a rejection of the person Emmanuel Macron, I especially have the impression that people are having more and more difficulty with too vertical a power, where a lot is asked of the French… In Aveyron, as elsewhere, this weighs heavily on the middle classes, for example. And when they no longer have the feeling of living well thanks to the fruits of their work, they can turn to the extremes… I want this value of work to be put back more than ever at the center of our politics. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal focused his speech a lot on this: today, the differential must be much greater between those who work, who get up early, who pay their taxes, and those who have made another choice. It’s social justice. And it is also justified, a contrario, by the super profits of the richest which do not trickle down…
Can this “at the same time” still work in the face of the RN wave? And are you personally worried despite your big victory in 2022?
If I am re-elected, my legitimacy will clearly come from the vote of Aveyron residents. Because there is no longer the Macron effect like in 2017 or even in 2022. But I want to fight, with this demand that there be more representation of the territories at the top of the State and a little less ” Parisianism” or apparatchiks. And if this requirement is not met, I will take responsibility.
Are you ready to fight in this presidential majority which, according to the first polls, would become a large minority in the Assembly?
I’m fighting so that we have the majority. Because if this is not the case, the country will become ungovernable. If tomorrow the RN comes to power, the far left will be in the streets and we are in for months of chaos… We can already see it in the demonstrations! Not to mention the economic chaos that this would cause. I keep repeating to Aveyron residents that the RN in power is the antithesis of our values. Their program is totally unrealistic even if it changes every hour!
And the left-wing bloc, in which we are presented with rather friendly ecologists and socialists, is above all that of LFI. We also see it in the distribution of constituencies, they have many more than the others and Jean-Luc Mélenchon already announces that he wants to be Prime Minister. But he is not the only danger, I practiced during two years the elected Insoumis and they respect nothing, especially not the institutions. Their policy is fury and chaos. I come from the center left (PRG) and I cannot bring myself to think that the voters of Raphaël Glucksmann, for example, vote for this Popular Front. I call on them to vote in the sole strength of the center, ours.
Will they be ready to put out a “Macron” bulletin?
Macron, he will no longer be there in two years. You shouldn’t boil it all down to him. What matters today is to have a governable country, in a context where we can be destabilized by crises. Let’s imagine tomorrow that the Middle East conflict becomes important, as some want, with the radicalism of the two blocs… Let’s imagine again that Ukraine gives in to Russia, what sovereignty will we have with leaders who have relations of proximity to Putin?
In this context, was dissolution not too risky a bet?
Clearly, we are jumping into the void and we still don’t know if there will be a parachute…I’m far from reassured but in any case, the masks are falling. And finally what Macron saw in 2017, with radicalism on each side and a large central bloc, is happening… Aveyron resident, I can only place myself in moderation. That’s why I’m going back to the countryside. And more than personal stories, we are facing History with this election.
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