“It’s a disaster …” The shock at LR after the rout of Valérie Pécresse

At the House of Chemistry (Paris 7th),

A few seconds before the announcement of the results, some activists give the final instructions. “Silence, above all. Sobriety. “We should not give the cameras pointed at them the images they are looking for, a room in disarray, shot down by the score of Valérie Pécresse. But when the images scroll by and the candidate Les Républicains appears behind Eric Zemmour with only 5% of the vote, some cannot hold back a cry of amazement. The others are dumbfounded. The Republican right had never fallen so low since the beginning of the Fifth Republic.

“It’s a disaster, breathes Jules, 22, by our side. We expected defeat, but not to this extent. We don’t even know if we’re going to be reimbursed, it’s crazy! His friend Harold tries to find an explanation for the cataclysm. He resents (a little) the media and the polls. “I have a lot of people around me who said to themselves, ‘What’s the point of supporting Valérie when she’s very low, you might as well vote Macron right away,’ says the 21-year-old young man. Anyway, to fall to 5%, something must have happened. “It’s hard to live with, we suffered an extremely heavy score”, cowardly, annoyed, spokeswoman Florence Portelli.

The same speeches come up everywhere in the room of the House of Chemistry. “We don’t have the impression that there was a real campaign, plague Gabriel. Zero debate, nothing. And his program was denigrated compared to his person, I think. We put form before substance. Reference to the Zénith meeting in mid-February, which was to launch the offensive and where the candidate completely missed her speech. “It was the Titanic”, had been mocked even in his camp. The wreckage was found even deeper than expected. “It was the rocker, recognizes Eric, 72 years old and a true Gaullist at heart. The media didn’t miss it then, even more so because it was a woman. But it’s true that her problem is that she didn’t make people dream. »

“Emmanuel Macron played with fire, and made France take a big risk”

On the side of the party cadres, radio silence. Christian Jacob, president of LR, came on site. But he stuck to a meeting in an adjoining room with supporters (and former primary candidates) Michel Barnier and Philippe Juvin, as well as the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher. Not one went to the stage with the defeated, nor even descended into the arena to speak to the militants or the journalists. Don’t want to be in the loser’s photo? “You see evil everywhere”, tried to defend Geoffroy Didier at the end of the afternoon, when he was asked about the absence of the LR tenors.

It was therefore alone that Valérie Pécresse arrived at her desk, just 17 minutes after 8 p.m. Impassive face. “I had to fight on two fronts, between the outgoing president and the extremes who joined forces to fight me. I have not been able to free myself from this vice, she declared. I am worried about the future of the country. Emmanuel Macron played with fire, and made France take a big risk. Not much else about her crushing defeat, of which she “assumes all [sa] go “.

What future for the party?

The deputy Julien Aubert, he did not parade. The former Deputy Secretary General of the party had things to say about the way the battle has been fought since the primary. “We wanted to please everyone, he gets carried away. Let’s start again on a clear line, and stop with the Spanish inn that this campaign was, and which I deeply regret. An observation that had been made for a long time. Torn between Eric Ciotti and Xavier Bertrand, in particular, the president of the Ile-de-France region – rather liberal and modern – got lost on the way. She didn’t satisfy anyone because she tried to please everyone.

The future of the Republicans is at stake now. Already, it is necessary to know if the bar of the 5% will be reached or not at the time of the final results – that did not seem left for Sunday evening. And then see if everything will not come crashing down before the second round. The fear is great that everyone is playing their part. Valérie Pécresse announced that she will vote for Emmanuel Macron, and without giving instructions, recalled one of the great sentences of Jacques Chirac: “Everything in the soul of France says no to extremism. MP Robin Reda was even clearer right after. “We will have to rally behind the outgoing president for the second round,” he said without batting an eyelid.

They are still numerous on this line, but certainly less than in 2017. “I did not hesitate for a second after the defeat of François Fillon. There, I will not vote for Macron, exposes for example Gabriel, 29 years old. I will vote blank, or even for the candidate opposite. Because of everything that happened during these five years, of these little phrases towards the French, of this arrogance. A reflection that resonates with that of Julien Aubert. “My vote will not be the same as that of Valérie Pécresse. That does not prevent staying in the same group for the future, and rebuilding. But not anyhow. We must refocus on a Gaullist line. And not the Gaullism of operetta that we have seen in recent years”, thunders the boss of the movement “Oser la France”. On the set of TF1, Eric Ciotti announced that “personally”, he would vote “against” the outgoing president.

In any case, the discussions promise to be very lively in the coming days, whether among sympathizers or the highest ranking officers. From Monday morning, a strategic council will meet from 10:00 a.m., then a political office will take place. No one wants to speculate on what will come out of it. “It’s even more complicated to predict than the result of this first round”, dodges Aubert. A little further on, activists are worried. “Can we still talk about a party? asks Jules. We did not find the embryo of an answer in his gaze.

Discover the results of the 2022 presidential election by city, department and region on 20 minutes.