Elisabeth Borne withdraws her candidacy to head Renaissance to join Gabriel Attal – L’Express

2024-10-29 18:40:00

There will be no duel between former prime ministers to take over the president’s party: Elisabeth Borne withdrew this Tuesday from the race to lead the Renaissance for a “union candidacy” with Gabriel Attal, who consolidates her position as first heir, albeit rebellious, by Emmanuel Macron. Just over two months after announcing his candidacy, the former prime minister joined forces with his successor in Matignon, whose victory the vast majority of party leaders considered a foregone conclusion.

The election of the successor to Stéphane Séjourné, recently appointed European Commissioner, will take place on 7 December. Candidates have until Monday to present a list for the National Council elections. In addition to the general secretary, the presidents of the departmental assemblies, the members of the party’s executive office and those of the territorial assembly will be elected.

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It seems unlikely that a second list could compete with that of the new president of the Macronist group in the Assembly. “Gabriel Attal has made it known that he wishes to run for the post of secretary general. In this decisive period for our country and for our political family, discussions have begun to seek a solution of complementarity rather than division,” they write. two “camps” in a joint press release. “Gabriel Attal and Elisabeth Borne have therefore chosen a candidacy of union and unity. Neither the situation of our country nor that of our party would favor division,” they continue. If Gabriel Attal’s election is confirmed by the activists’ vote, “Elisabeth Borne will be president of the National Council” (a sort of party parliament), according to the text.

“The beginning of attalism”

The former prime minister, who has just published a book on his experience in Matignon in which he almost spares the president, had received the support of several leaders of the presidential movement such as former ministers Aurore Bergé and Clément Beaune, and the former head of the Sylvain Maillard Assembly group. The Calvados MP immediately tried to put pressure on her undeclared competitor, believing that it was not “usual” to combine the functions of first leader of the party and president of the group in the Assembly. Because Gabriel Attal was elected president of the Macronist group in July. However, the joint press release does not yet address the issue of overlapping mandates.

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Elisabeth Borne’s rally removes an obstacle in the path of Gabriel Attal, in contrast with Emmanuel Macron after the dissolution. The agreement announced on Tuesday “corresponds to the desire for unity reiterated several times by the President of the Republic, therefore it goes in the right direction”, judges an executive councilor. Founder of En Marche in 2016, which became La République en marche in 2017, Emmanuel Macron is honorary president of Renaissance, new name of the party from 2022. “The fact that Attal takes the party and the group, which acts definitively ends Macronism and begins of attalism”, judges one of the former prime minister’s supporters.