At Les Républicains, the debacle of Valérie Pécresse in the first round of the presidential election awakens the specter of divisions

At the campaign headquarters of the LR candidate, on the evening of the first round of the presidential election, at the Maison de la chimie, in Paris, on April 10, 2022. FLORENCE BROCHORE FOR “THE WORLD”

What is she thinking at this moment? It is 7 p.m., Sunday April 10, on the second floor of the Maison de la chimie, in Paris. Surrounded by a handful of caciques from the Les Républicains (LR) party, Valérie Pécresse knows that she has lost, without yet knowing her score.

In front of her supporters, including Michel Barnier, Christian Jacob, Gérard Larcher, Bruno Retailleau or Annie Genevard, the LR candidate admits it: she did not manage to loosen the noose between the far right and Emmanuel Macron, who suffocated. “The useful vote has siphoned us off”she adds, worrying about the fate of LR deputies promised to heckled legislative elections in June. “You fought well”encouraged her followers, applauding her.

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The first estimates, placing her in fifth place, around 5%, fell a little later, at 7:40 p.m. Luc Melenchon.

In its history, the right had never achieved such a low score. Valérie Pécresse made almost half as much as François-Xavier Bellamy in the 2019 European elections, already one of the worst snubs in the history of LR. It’s a shock. A humiliation. And the assurance of terrible turbulence for a political family in tatters. And suspended.

“A personal and collective disappointment”

In Paris, in the large room where some 200 activists are waiting, on the first floor of the Maison de la chimie, there is consternation. ” A disaster “, bluntly admits the deputy of Vaucluse Julien Aubert. Moved, Valérie Pécresse – who retouched her speech after realizing that she was falling below the 5% mark – announced that she would vote in « conscience » for Emmanuel Macron, in order to prevent the coming to power of the candidate of the National Rally (RN) Marine Le Pen and “the resulting chaos”.

Three days earlier, Friday on France Inter, she had however slipped that she would not give voting instructions. The one who recalled her “commitment against extremes”quoting her mentor Jacques Chirac, finally decided otherwise, strongly urging her voters to follow her. “I do not own the votes cast on my name. But I ask the men and women voters who have honored me with their confidence, to weigh in the days to come with seriousness, the potentially disastrous consequences for our country and for future generations of any choice different from mine that they would consider for the second round »she launched, referring to “a personal and collective disappointment”.

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