Nicolas Sarkozy assures us. At no time was he consulted by Emmanuel Macron on the advisability of dissolving the National Assembly. He is not moved by it: this, according to him, is the meaning of our institutions. But if his phone had rung, it is a certainty, the former President of the Republic would have advised his successor against making such a decision.
“This dissolution constitutes a major risk for the country as well as for the president,” he explains in an interview with our colleagues from Journal du Dimanche. For the country, already fractured, because this could plunge it into chaos from which it will have the greatest difficulty emerging. And for the president, who had three years left in his mandate, and I would have preferred that he used them to accomplish what the French want. »
The former head of state says he is in no way surprised by the historic score achieved by the National Rally during the last European elections. He calls on Emmanuel Macron for more consistency. “It seems difficult to me to say: I want to give the French a voice, and at the same time designate half of it as being extremes, implied, which we cannot take into account, because they would be in error”, he analyzes, nevertheless recognizing in the current president “a great intelligence, an impressive work force and a deep knowledge of the files”. As well as results on the economic field.
No principled hostility to the RN
Nicolas Sarkozy also refuses to discredit Jordan Bardella and the RN in principle, a party which, according to him, has done “undeniable work on itself”. The former head of state simply questions the inexperience of the current president of the far-right party, as well as his ability to manage Marine Le Pen. What remains is the decision deemed “inopportune” and taken alone by Éric Ciotti, president of a party persisting since 2016 “in a strategic impasse”, to ally with Marine Le Pen. His fault? Having decided a debate, alone, “before it could prosper” within the governing bodies of his party.
