Bruno Retailleau raises his voice. In unequivocal terms, he wants to embody the “break” with the past, in particular Sarkozy, in this between-two rounds of the election to the LR presidency which opposes him to Éric Ciotti. Accused of “ambiguity” by his competitor after the support of Xavier Bertrand, he replies and points the finger at the Nice’s own supporters.
Nicolas Sarkozy once again asked Emmanuel Macron on Sunday to reach out to LR. What do you answer him?
BRUNO RETAILLEAU. There is clearly an enterprise of destabilization of the right by Nicolas Sarkozy and Emmanuel Macron. This enterprise aims to destroy and dislocate the French right. It has to be put to an end very quickly. If I am elected president of LR next Sunday, my first act will be to submit an internal referendum, before the end of the year, to the activists who will decide this question: “yes or no, do you want an alliance with Emmanuel Macron? “For my part, I voted white in the second round of the presidential elections in 2017 and 2022. I never voted for Emmanuel Macron, I never considered any alliance because, for me, politics, this are beliefs. However, our convictions are not the same as those of Emmanuel Macron: he scuttled nuclear power, deepened the debt and increased immigration and insecurity. The honor of politics is to have convictions and stick to them!
Yet no one in this campaign is calling for an alliance with Macron. Neither you nor Eric Ciotti. Is it really a debate?
Of course there is debate. Because for some, the temptation still exists. I think that a direct decision by the activists will finally allow the right to speak clearly. This is the reason why I want to give voice to our activists: I know that they will always place their convictions above the calculations of politicians.
Does this mean that you suspect Eric Ciotti of being ambiguous on this subject?
I don’t suspect anything at all. Ambiguity exists in our political family and I want to settle it definitively. It will be impossible to rebuild ourselves, to rebuild a free and independent French right if we live with this sword of Damocles above our heads.
45% of LR supporters are however in favor of an alliance with Macron. So you give up trying to convince them?
No way. But if we want to rebuild our movement, we can only do it on a line that is clearly on the right. If there are 10 million voters who have left us for fifteen years, it is precisely because they reproach us for our ambiguity. We can only win them back if the French know exactly what we think about immigration, work or public spending.
You president, will the supporters of a collaboration with Macron have to leave?
Once the line has been cut by the activists, I hope that we can draw up a charter of commitment not to ally with Emmanuel Macron which will be signed by all.
What would happen to those who refused to sign it?
They are free to do so. But they will have to take their responsibilities.
Would they still have a place in the party?
Consistency will be the first pillar of the overhaul that I want to undertake.
You propose to hold a referendum on this alliance with Macron. Why not do the same with Marine Le Pen?
Because no one is proposing an alliance with Marine Le Pen! And I won’t suggest it. I don’t believe in uniting rights through devices. I believe in uniting the right through voters.
In Nice-Matin, Éric Ciotti underlines that “Xavier Bertrand, who is still targeting the Elysée, is not clear about his position vis-à-vis the macronie” and assures that “Retailleau, if elected, will be prisoner of his supporters” and that we would then return “towards a form of confusion and ambiguity”. What do you answer?
I suggest just the opposite! Reason for which, me, I wished throughout the countryside that one assumes a rupture, including with Nicolas Sarkozy. I recall that Éric Ciotti has as project director Geoffroy Didier who had made a platform by calling on the right “to seize the hand extended by Emmanuel Macron”. As far as I know, this is not the case in my team. Those who want to make this election the antechamber of the presidential election are making a very serious mistake. This is how the party will be destroyed. Let’s keep playing egos against ideas and it will be the last nail in the coffin!
Is Xavier Bertrand’s support welcome?
Sure. My project is renewal, but also unification: the right no longer has the means to shrink. I want to federate on a clear line.