Will there be a televised debate between the presidential candidates of the Les Républicains (LR) party? While the campaign for this internal election, which will take place on December 3, is currently taking place behind the scenes, Aurélien Pradié pleads to organize a confrontation, or even two, under the eye of the cameras. “These debates must take place”claims the deputy of Lot, who considers it essential to“exchange on the bottom”.
Acting as a challenger and in search of notoriety, Mr. Pradié knows that he has every interest in such an exercise. But opposite, his competitors, Eric Ciotti and Bruno Retailleau, who appear as the favorites, seem less upbeat. “The campaign must first be done in front of the activists, on the ground and in a peaceful way, rather than in front of the cameras”, sweeps the leader of the senators LR. On Mr. Ciotti’s side, we don’t want to hear about a televised debate either. “Discussions must take place between the candidates and the members. It’s not a game with journalists, they don’t have to impose their themes.slice the MEP, Nadine Morano, declared support of the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes.
“Fleeing the debate is always a weakness”
In return, Mr. Pradié accuses them of having ” the fear “. “Fleeing the debate is always a weakness”, he already denounced at the end of September, in order to push his rivals to comply with such an exercise. Faced with the pressing request of the 36-year-old elected official, Mr. Ciotti has already tried to clear mines, ensuring that he is ready to “to participate with enthusiasm in all the debates”which could be arranged.
“This competition is not a primary for the presidential but an internal election,” argues Mr. Retailleau.
If he claims not to have ” no problem “ to participate in a televised debate, Mr. Retailleau judges, however, that the election for the presidency of LR, which only concerns members, does not require repeating televised debates, as may have been the case between Valérie Pécresse or Xavier Bertrand, in the fall of 2021, when it came to appointing the right-wing candidate for the Élysée ballot. “This competition is not a presidential primary but an internal election”he argues.
Everyone agrees on at least one point: the need “to avoid the battle of egos”. While the number of members fell to 48,500 people, according to a June score – three times less than in December 2021 – there was no question of tearing oneself apart in public, as was notably the case in 2012, during the Copé-Fillon battle. In this context, priority to “serene and close” with the militants, believes Nadine Morano, recalling that “disunity leads to defeat and self-destruction”. “We must learn from yesterday’s mistakes and put ideas before personalities. The members and the French as a whole are tired of the quarrels of the right “, abounds Bruno Retailleau. Hence the campaign at low noise, for the moment, with candidates who favor travel throughout the territory.