Digital era obliges, political parties today settle their disputes in WhatsApp loops. The Republicans (LR) are no exception to the rule. At 11:49 a.m. this Saturday, its president, Eric Ciotti, informed the group of deputies of his decision to dismiss Aurélien Pradié from his duties as executive vice-president of the formation. “We were all a little surprised by the news this morning,” admits Isabelle Valentin, elected representative of Haute-Loire. Starting with the principal concerned who learned about it by SMS shortly before, after having missed the call from his president.
At 11:43 a.m., a pithy press release endorsed this decision. Mr Ciotti blames his now ex-number two “his repeated positions more in line with the values of coherence, unity and unity which must guide the Republican right” and regret a personal adventure. Between the WhatsApp message and this communication, the deputy of Lot had time to reaffirm his independence. “The only fate that matters is that of the French for whom we are committed. Convictions are defensible. Tirelessly “, wrote on Twitter the one who has been running the sets and the morning shows for a month to carry a dissonant voice from his party on the pension reform.
At 36, the third man in the election for the presidency of LR in December 2022 (22.2%), defends the idea of a social right, which “speak to France who works when our party has cut itself off from the popular categories”, not hesitating to cite the example of his younger baker brother. By force, he became the gentleman “long careers” of the debates, claiming that no one has to contribute more than forty-three years to leave at full rate.
But internally, the Occitan elected official irritates more than one by his media omnipresence and his opposition to pension reform, despite the agreement in principle with the government. Starting with the liberal and conservative wing of the party, embodied by the boss of LR senators, Bruno Retailleau. “Being on the right is not being a little less on the left than the left”, he criticized last week in an interview with Sunday newspaper.
Applauded Friday by the rebels at the Assembly
Eric Ciotti acknowledged the palpable animosity between his two former opponents for the party presidency. “There is this debate between them which does not make things easier. I manage in this context, a difficult situation “, he conceded Thursday morning at Monde. At that time, was his decision to sanction Aurélien Pradié taken? “Aurélien undeniably has talent, but he can also get lost in this positioning which irritates some and may seem to them to be very far from our fundamentals. »
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