On the stage, Renaud Muselier, Martine Vassal and Hubert Falco supervise Gabriel Attal and Gérald Darmanin and begin at the top of their voices The Marseillaise. Without the presence of the government spokesperson, number one on the applause meter, one could almost imagine going back a few years, in the feverish finale of a meeting of the Les Républicains (LR) party. This Saturday, March 12, it is however a public meeting in support of the re-election of Emmanuel Macron which is held at the Dock des Suds, a performance hall in Marseille.
The casting is symbolic. Seeing the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA) region, the president of the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis and the mayor of Toulon, all historical pillars of the UMP then of LR, materializes a major upheaval . The migration of a large part of the South-East right to the presidential camp and support for Emmanuel Macron.
Christian Estrosi is missing, but his absence is only fortuitous. The president of the Nice-Côte d’Azur metropolis is the host, Wednesday March 23, of a large regional meeting in his city, in the presence of the former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran. In Marseille, he dispatched his first deputy, Anthony Borré, new Horizons manager – the party founded by Edouard Philippe – in PACA, and his political adviser Pierre-Louis Cros.
“The president needs electoral heavyweights behind his candidacy. Tonight he lined everyone up “, savors the regional councilor Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, personal friend of the Macron couple and « go-between », as she defines herself, “intermediate” between the Elysée and Marseille. In direct contact with Jean-Marie Caillaud, Emmanuel Macron’s territorial adviser, it was she who picked up her phone to invite the ex-tenors of LR to the first campaign meeting in the Bouches-du-Rhône. This audiovisual producer also orchestrated the rallying of second-tier elected officials, such as that of the mayor of 5e Marseille sector, Lionel Royer-Perreaut, resigned from LR in early February 2022.
Slow conversion
The “walkers” of the first hour found a nickname for these defectors: the ” Political refugees “. Faced with those who fought them a few months ago, the deputies of the presidential majority, they display the “benevolence” desired by Emmanuel Macron. “The right of the South-East gave the “la” to the national right. The frequentable elected officials are already with us. Only the ciottistes remain at LR, who, it is written, will end up with Zemmour”assures Mohamed Laqhila, MoDem deputy for Aix-en-Provence.
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