Jérôme Cahuzac, 72, finished only fourth with 14.56% of the vote according to the final results and called for a vote in favour of the Les Républicains mayor of Villeneuve-sur-Lot, Guillaume Lepers (24.99%) to beat the outgoing MP Annick Cousin, from the National Rally (41.08%).
“I am withdrawing in favor of the candidate best placed to beat the candidate of the National Rally. I am therefore withdrawing for Guillaume Lepers”, Mr. Cahuzac (various left) told the press.
The former minister was also beaten by the candidate of the New Popular Front, the rebellious Xavier Czapla (18.36%). The latter indicated that he would consult his partners but that personally he intended to withdraw his candidacy to block the RN.
Mr. Cahuzac, François Hollande’s Minister of Finance, resigned in 2013 after revelations by Mediapart, before being sentenced in 2018 for tax fraud to four years in prison, two of which were suspended, and five years of ineligibility. A sentence served today and which he does not like to see mentioned.
Asked about the weight of the past in his electoral defeat, for his return to politics after ten years of absence, he replied that it was “surely one of the possible explanations”while regretting not having succeeded “to convince” voters with his local and national project.
The former mayor of Villeneuve-sur-Lot, who had been a deputy for this constituency twice (1997-2002 then 2007-2012), on the other hand refused to draw conclusions for the rest of his political career.
“Politics is life and as long as there is life, there is life”, said Mr. Cahuzac.
