“Edouard Philippe does not want to be caught off guard by an early presidential election” – Libération

The CNRS researcher at the Centre for Political Research at Sciences-Po sees the former Prime Minister’s declaration of candidacy as a further sign of “the end of the Macron adventure” and the desire to avoid being “made obsolete” by new faces.

For political scientist and researcher at Cevipof Bruno Cautrès, Emmanuel Macron’s current fragility results in particular from his isolation. According to him, the situation of the head of state is approaching the end of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing’s mandate.

How do you analyse this declaration of candidacy by Edouard Philippe at a time when all attention is focused on the absence of a new Prime Minister?

I have several hypotheses. First, we must rule out the possibility that the former Prime Minister did this without thinking… I think that, given the extreme political uncertainty and volatility that we have experienced since June 9, Edouard Philippe does not want to be caught off guard by a possible early presidential election. And on that, we must be very careful. The same people who tell you that “no never” the President will not resign are the same ones who keep thinking about it. We have been in such a political impasse since the results of the early legislative elections that it is quite possible that Edouard Philippe wanted to set a date before it is too late. Another possible hypothesis: if Xavier Bertrand enters Matignon, he can put together a team with new faces. The former head of government could sense the danger coming of finding himself outdated. Last advantage of such timing: being the first to plant the flag of the right on the political map to send a signal to a very inquisitive part of the electorate