LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
Gilles Le Gendre throws in the towel. (Ludovic Marin/AFP)
POLITICS – This is an unexpected withdrawal that has absolutely nothing to do with the blockades of the extreme right. In the wealthy 2nd constituency of Paris, in the heart of the capital, Gilles Le Gendre announced this Tuesday, July 2, the withdrawal of his candidacy in the legislative elections.
Outgoing MP, elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2022, he came third in the first round (19.6%), behind the socialist Marine Rosset, supported by the New Popular Front (33.4%), but also the LR candidate Jean Laussucq, close to Rachida Dati and officially invested by Renaissance (23.6%).
“At a time when our country is facing a serious political crisis and the presidential majority is threatened with implosion, I will not be another cause of confusion.”he wrote in a statement published at midday. However, nothing forced the former president of the LREM group in the Assembly to withdraw since the extreme right is absent from the second round.
In reality, he explains that he hopes for the victory of the left-wing candidate and indicates that, personally, he will slip a ballot in the name of Marine Rosset into the voting booth on Sunday. “Beyond the labels, I am choosing the person, whose attachment to democratic, republican and universalist values I know. If she were elected, I trust her to work within the new Assembly with the broad gathering of democrats and republicans.”he justifies.
“Betrayal of the ideals of political ethics”
A choice that may be surprising, given Gilles Le Gendre’s political career, which is markedly right-wing. His first commitment dates back to the 1970s when he campaigned for Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. His political career took off again with Emmanuel Macron in 2016. If Jean Laussucq will not have his vote, it is because he is the right-hand man of Rachida Dati, whose recent appointment to the government represents, according to Gilles Le Gendre, “a betrayal of the ideals of political ethics and the promises of renewal of practices carried by Emmanuel Macron since 2017”.
It is not only at La France Insoumise that some outgoing deputies have not been officially reinvested: at Renaissance too, Gilles Le Gendre, a former loyalist of Emmanuel Macron who even chaired the LREM group in the Assembly, believes he was the victim of a « purge ».
For the moment, reactions to this withdrawal have been very timid. Only the former Minister of Transport Clément Beaune, himself defeated in the first round in Paris by a socialist, congratulated Gilles Le Gendre. “for this elegance and this freedom”. “Your choice of clarity and transparency honors you, while you have been the target of sickening maneuvers. Your voice remains necessary in the debate.”he believes.
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