“A friend”, “an opportunity for the country”, “a real group boss” : the tenors of LR Bruno Retailleau and Laurent Wauquiez displayed their unity on Friday during a visit by the Minister of the Interior to the Haute-Loire stronghold of the head of the LR deputies.
The two men, to whom we attribute a hushed rivalry, showed an onslaught of friendliness, answering questions from journalists side by side in Monistrol-sur-Loire and multiplying their expressions of sympathy.
The minister came to take note of the “security shield”a system to combat delinquency which relies on video protection, set up by Laurent Wauquiez.
“We are lucky to have a Minister of the Interior who has strong values, clear ideas and who does not have a hand that trembles”praised the deputy for Haute-Loire, presenting Bruno Retailleau as “a friend”.
“I have immense confidence in the work he does. And it is a chance for our country to have him as Minister of the Interior”continued the former president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
“We need Bruno to succeed,” he said again. We need him to succeed for our country. We need him to succeed for the security of the French. And us too, for our political family. »
The former senator, whose popularity is increasing according to an Elabe/Les Echos survey, for his part praised the initiative ” outstanding “ of Laurent Wauquiez in Haute-Loire, while admitting that their relations could have been conflicting.
“This bond between us hasn’t always been an obvious one. We sometimes clashed. It hasn’t always been easy”he declared, emphasizing the character “sometimes rough” Vendéens (like him) and inhabitants of Puy-en-Velay (the stronghold of Laurent Wauquiez).
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau (c) and the president of the Republican Right parliamentary group Laurent Wauquiez (d) visit a new gendarme barracks in Bas-en-Basset, November 22, 2024 in Haute-Loire / OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP
“When we manage to overcome these difficulties in personal and political lives, it allows us to strengthen ties”continued Bruno Retailleau, ensuring that the fact of sharing the same « convictions » cemented this rapprochement.
“And I cannot succeed – I say this in front of Laurent – without having a president who is a real boss of his parliamentary group”he assured.
After visiting a new gendarmerie brigade, Mr. Retailleau went to Puy-en-Velay to the premises of the daily newspaper l'Eveil, where the future police station is to be installed, before going to Brives-Charensac, a commune devastated by the Cévennes episode of October.
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