Valérie Pécresse, challenged by a crowd from the right

You may not have experienced such a reception before. Arriving at Les Républicains (LR) party headquarters around 2pm on Saturday 4 December, Valérie Becresse was barely able to get out of her car and take the few steps that separated her from the interior of the white-walled building on Rue de Vaugirard (Paris 15^NSJournalists often surrounded her with their microphones and cameras. A figure wearing a crimson jacket, not visible to anyone outside the cloud.

The results haven’t come out yet, but everyone is already suspicious of the outcome of the second round of voting for House members. The nearly 114,000 supporters who voted between Friday and Saturday chose 60.95% to designate the president of the Ile-de-France region as a right-wing candidate in the 2022 presidential election. Eric Ciuty, MP for the Maritime Alps, also made it to the final stage at the end of the first round, collecting 39.05 % of the votes.

In the large hall on the second floor where the party held its induction ceremony, smiles spread from face to face among the candidate’s supporters and relatives. LR has been questioned by many in recent months, as in recent years. “We held out, we believed in it even if we suffered, sitting on very small seats in the council, mocking our comrades”Saturday Deputy Eason Robin Rida joked.

Above all, show the assembly image

It was surrounded by the finalists that Christian Jacob, head of the party, announced the results, then gave the floor to loser Eric Ciuti. Valerie Pecres waited a few minutes to speak, it was time for the other unfortunate candidates – Xavier Bertrand, Michel Barnier and Philippe Goffin – to take the stage with her. Above all, show the image of a unified party. It is indisputable that voters are allowed to believe that the right has once again fallen into its impasse. Too bad if everyone, especially within management, is not necessarily smiling.

“For the first time in its history, he will be a candidate for the party of General de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy,” recalls Valérie Pecres.

“For the first time in its history, he will be the candidate of the party of General de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.”, Valerie Pecresse immediately announced, emotion in her voice. Today, “I think of all the women”He added with a smile the former Minister of Higher Education Francois Fillon before thanking the members To have that audacity to set it.

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