It is one more act towards the legislative elections for the presidential majority. Thursday, May 5, the tenors of the parties supporting Emmanuel Macron have, in fact, launched their confederation “Together”, to present their common candidates for the legislative elections, from the headquarters of La République en Marche (LRM) in Paris. On the occasion of this gathering, Stanislas Guerini, general delegate of LRM, also announced that his party would “refound” and change its name, becoming « Renaissance ».
Richard Ferrand, President of the National Assembly, spoke first, before the leaders of the three main parties supporting Emmanuel Macron – François Bayrou, for the MoDem; former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, for Horizons; and Stanislas Guerini, for LRM -, in front of an audience where several pillars of the presidential majority appeared, wearing the different labels that make it up.
Among them were several ministers and secretaries of state, including the minister for ecological transition, Babara Pompili (In common), the minister for housing, Emmanuelle Wargon (Territories of progress), or the minister in charge of relations with the Parliament, Marc Fesneau (MoDem).
A majority “both coherent and plural”
Evoking the“political and electoral agreement in the legislative elections” found between the three main formations of the majority, after final discussions held in the middle of the day, Mr. Ferrand was pleased that their union was “both coherent and plural”. “We didn’t wait” the result of the second round “to tell each other that we should do things together”he added, in reference, in hollow, to the difficult negotiations of the left to present a united front in the legislative elections.
The “different sensitivities honor us”, added Mr. Ferrand, joined in his remarks a few minutes later by Edouard Philippe. He too hailed a composite majority, in which, he said, “we are ‘together’ because we are not identical”, but where ” these differences that are respected are obviously an asset”.
François Bayrou, for his part, welcomed the model “confederal” which the majority opted for – Emmanuel Macron had pleaded for a single party a few weeks ago, which Mr. Bayrou was opposed to. He felt that unlike the left, where “ the gatherings that are taking place are against common sense”, the presidential majority did not “had clashes” or of “rivalries” internal. In recent months and weeks, however, tensions between Mr. Philippe and LRM have not ceased to be raised, concerning the distribution of constituencies and nominations.
While a first list of names of the candidates invested by the majority must be communicated Thursday at the end of the day, before a second on Saturday, Horizons would have obtained 58 candidates, while the Modem would obtain between 101 and 110 constituencies, leaving the remaining 400 to LRM.
Asked about the financing of the campaign for the legislative elections during the press conference, François Bayrou indicated that the three majority parties, investing a single common candidacy per constituency, would share the same financing association: “We have agreed on a unique financing association. »
« Renaissance »
As for LRM, the presidential party has announced that it is initiating its transformation, at the same time as the President of the Republic enters his second term. Thus, the party will change its name, becoming “Renaissance”, argued the general delegate of LRM during the press conference.
“Today we are initiating a movement to rebuild La République en Marche, in order to be able to continue to expand this political movement created by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron a little over six years ago, in a political party that will bear the name of Renaissance”said Mr. Guerini.
This is the name of the Macronist list brought to the 2019 European elections (MEPs have since sat in the European Parliament within the “Renew” group). Stanislas Guerini made it known that this new “refounded” party would be intended to “to be faithful to the will of the President of the Republic” who is “always to make the choice of Enlightenment against obscurantism” et “faithful to what we do on the European scene”. A party which also “will be intended to be open to citizens, elected officials, local elected officials wherever they come from” et “to the partners, current and future, of the presidential majority”.