The president of the Les Républicains (LR) party, Christian Jacob, asked the deputy for Ain Damien Abad to “resign from office” as president of the LR parliamentary group in the National Assembly, Thursday, May 19, after several weeks of ambiguity from Mr. Abad on his possible rapprochement with the presidential majority.
“I asked him this morning to get out of the ambiguity” et “He asked me for additional time to wait for the composition of the government”explained in a press release Mr. Jacob, before ensuring that his party “could not wait for the goodwill of Mr. Macron to take it or not to take it from the government and that he
should, as of now, step down as chairman of the group.
Damien Abad had informed the deputies of his camp on Tuesday that he “would clarify his situation by Friday”. “I have always taken my responsibilities and, once again, I will take them: with clarity and frankness”he wrote on Thursday, on Twitterin response to Christian Jacob’s press release and assuring that an article from the Figaro would soon be published, in which he would detail his position.
If Mr. Abad “joins the majority, he says so and he assumes it”
Asked about Franceinfo, Thursday morning, Christian Jacob had explained that Mr. Abad had “was scolded in a group meeting at the start of the week, Monday, where the unanimity of the parliamentarians told him to clarify his position”. “We asked him to do it immediately, he asked for a forty-eight hour deadline, the forty-eight hour deadline is there now, either he joins the majority, he says it and he assumes it; if he wishes to return to government, he goes, but let things be clear; or else he remains effectively on the line which is ours. We can’t be ambiguous.”he assured.
Aged 42, Mr. Abad is the subject of speculation about a possible entry into government, especially since his meeting between the two presidential rounds with Thierry Solère, a former member of the Republicans who has become a close adviser to the president. of the Republic. The Ensemble! group, made up of several formations close to Emmanuel Macron (La République en Marche, Horizons, the MoDem in particular) did not invest a candidate, facing him, in the 5e district of Ain.