Aurélien Rousseau, former Minister of Health under Emmanuel Macron, announced on Friday that he would represent the left-wing coalition “New Popular Front” in the legislative elections in the third constituency of Yvelines, in the name of the fight against the National Rally. “The RN must not come to power. Alongside Raphaël Glucksmann, strong in my values, republican, universalist, for progress and emancipation, I am committed to the dynamic of bringing together the left Popular Front, the only one capable of blocking the extreme right. wrote on X Aurélien Rousseau.
Mr. Rousseau left the government in December after the vote on the immigration law. He had previously been the chief of staff of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, notably during the highly contested pension reform. “He is someone who had courage, who left on a red line. The symbol is strong. We are going to be both the popular front and the republican front,” commented a close friend of Mr. Glucksmann. “It shows all its coherence,” quipped Emmanuel Macron after the announcement of this rally, on the sidelines of the G7 in Bari (Italy).
Right stronghold. Mr. Rousseau, an enarch who is preparing to celebrate his 48th birthday, had formerly been a member of the PCF, before participating in the victorious campaign of socialist Bertrand Delanoë in 2001, of which he then became deputy chief of staff. Mr. Rousseau held this same function during a first stint at Matignon from 2015 to 2017, under the orders of the socialists Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve. From 2018, he became the director of the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency, appointed by the Minister of Health at the time, the Macronist Agnès Buzyn, before joining Elisabeth Borne at Matignon in July 2021.
During the legislative elections, scheduled for June 30 and July 7, he will notably face the outgoing deputy of the presidential majority, Béatrice Piron, who largely won in the second round (71.40%) in 2022 against an opponent LFI-Nupes . This constituency, which is organized around the commune of Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, has long been a right-wing stronghold, where Nicolas Sarkozy’s former advisor Henri Guaino, Christian Blanc and Anne-Marie were notably elected deputies. Idrac, both Secretaries of State under the Fillon governments.
It was also the first electoral stronghold of former Prime Minister Michel Rocard, where he was elected deputy from 1978 to 1986. On the social network of the New Popular Front, welcomed him. “The same one, the only one, who left the government because of the Immigration Law,” she again paid tribute.
© Agence France-Presse
