French presidential election: Edouard Philippe declares himself a candidate

“I will be a candidate in the next presidential election”: former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe made his candidacy official in an interview with the weekly Le Point published on Tuesday evening.

“I am preparing to propose things to the French. What I will propose will be massive. The French will decide,” explains the president of the Horizons party, Prime Minister of Emmanuel Macron from 2017 to 2020.

Although the mayor of Le Havre’s ambitions for the Elysée were hardly a mystery, particularly given his constant popularity in the polls, Mr Philippe had never publicly stated his presence on the starting line in 2027.

“It is often said that for a presidential election you should not want anything else. I agree with that,” insisted Mr. Philippe, saying he was ready, even in the event of an early presidential election.

“Stabilization of political life”

On the substance, the former resident of Matignon mentions in particular “four perils” which France must face in the current period: “democratic”, “budgetary”, “immobility” and “public order and security”.

Asked elsewhere about Matignon and the Xavier Bertrand and Bernard Cazeneuve hypotheses, the mayor of Le Havre replied that he would support “any Prime Minister chosen in a political space that goes from the conservative right to social democracy.”

“All government parties should have as their main objective to promote the stabilisation of political life,” Mr Philippe further urges.

A message addressed in particular to his former political family, the Republicans: “the right must get involved. By refusing to participate in this central bloc, it is pushing the whole thing towards the left,” he emphasizes.

AFP

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