Former member of the Les Républicains party, the one who had been an orphan from a political family since December 2022 made his decision official this Sunday, November 10, in a text published in the newspaper La Tribune.
It was anticipated, it’s now official. Arnaud Viala, president of the Aveyron departmental council, joins the Horizons political party, founded by former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. The one who was deputy for the third constituency of Aveyron between 2015 and 2021 announced this decision this Sunday, November 10, in a text published in the economic newspaper La Tribune. “Edouard Philippe is an experienced and solid statesman […], writes Arnaud Viala. I find myself in this vision of a France of proximity and on the ground.”
Through this decision, the Aveyronnais thus finds a political family. In December 2022, in the context of the election of Eric Ciotti at the head of the Republican party, Arnaud Viala denounced “a shift in LR towards the extreme which does not correspond to me” and thus left his lifelong party. “I am and feel center-right”he explains today, justifying this choice. “I want Aveyron and the Aveyronnais to have their rightful place in the France of tomorrow. I also want the voice of entrepreneurship and territorial balance to be strong in Occitanie”continues the one who is also elected municipal in Vézins-de-Lévézou.
Government and Department of Aveyron same fight?
There is no doubt that the arrival of Edouard Philippe in Aveyron last April – at the invitation of Arnaud Viala – weighed in this decision. While now, the majority of the Aveyron departmental council seems to reflect the situation of the presidential group on a national scale, with, since the appointment of Michel Barnier to Matignon, a coalition of Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party, up to the Republicans. To see if this situation will suit the elected officials of the Department, many of whom are attached to the Republicans.
In any case, if 2027 and the presidential election still seem far away, Arnaud Viala is already ready to commit to the mayor of Le Havre, who formalized his candidacy for the Elysée… on September 3.
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