The expected duel will take place. Louis Aliot, 52, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the National Rally (RN), Thursday July 28, in a column published in L’Opinion. The only RN mayor of a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants will be opposed to Jordan Bardella, the party’s interim president since September 2021.
“At 52, father, doctor of law, university lecturer then lawyer, I have the training and the will necessary to assume my mandate as mayor and a function of party president”said this vice-president of the RN in his forum.
To further support his candidacy, Mr. Aliot also returned to the role he played in the recent victories of the far-right party. “With Marine Le Pen and a few others, I contributed to the development of a popular national line which was validated at the ballot box by a large part of the French”he argued, echoing the candidate’s score of 42% in the second round of the 2022 presidential election, followed by the breakthrough of the RN in the legislative elections.
The president will be appointed on November 5.
The name of the future president will be known on November 5, during the party congress in Paris. The winner will succeed Marine Le Pen – who is now dedicated to chairing the group of 89 RN deputies in the National Assembly – and will mark the end of the Le Pen era at the head of the far-right party.
Former pen of Jean-Marie Le Pen and a time companion of his daughter Marine, whose career he also took off, Louis Aliot is a long-time figure in the party, unlike his 26-year-old competitor, although the latter is today one of the main media and political figures of the RN.
“Experience, tenacity and pugnacity will be essential qualities”advanced Louis Aliot, saying to enter a “healthy competition” facing Jordan Bardella, who for some embodies an RN ” new generation “.
The two men say they are on the same social and identity line, even if Mr. Bardella has placed more emphasis on this last aspect by campaigning in the south of France, on the lands of a certain Eric Zemmour. “We must be delighted that different talents, but united in their love of France, are offering themselves to our activists”said Mr. Aliot.