Robert Ménard calls for uniting the rights, in the face of the “danger” of the Popular Union

What does Robert Ménard (various right) play? The mayor of Béziers (Hérault) and support, despite their regular differences, of Marine Le Pen (RN) in the presidential election, signed this Wednesday in Le Figaro a surprising platform in which he calls for the union of all “social democrats, centrists, rightists, all responsible rightists, [et] independent elected officials”, to block Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the legislative elections. “France does not deserve this,” he wrote.

Stop supporting Emmanuel Macron. “Let’s support the head of state when he takes courageous decisions, let’s criticize him when he takes harmful ones”, chants the mayor of Béziers. 20 minutes asked Robert Ménard to explain his position.

Why did you sign this forum? What scares you so much about Jean-Luc Mélenchon?

What scares me are the statements of this People’s Union. A People’s Union built around someone who has a communitarian discourse that we know, who is capable, and who has never gone back on it, of demonstrating with Islamists, side by side, who shout “Allah akbar », someone who is, at this point, anti-European… In the text [de l’Union populaire], there is not a word about Ukraine. In the midst of war! If there is anyone who is problematic in the political spectrum, it is him. That a whole section of the left has rallied to Mr. Mélenchon seems to me likely to say that the situation has changed. There is a real problem.

You write that the dynamic is in favor of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Will he win the legislative elections?

Yes, this union of the left has a dynamic behind it. On the side of the union of rights, we cannot say that things are looking good. It’s a bit messy, to say the least. And I think, therefore, that there is a real danger. Faced with this danger, I have never put Mr. Macron and Mr. Mélenchon on the same level. I criticize Mr. Macron on a whole host of questions, on the question of immigration, on the question of security, on the lack of attention he pays to the little people… But Mr. Macron and Mr. Mélenchon, this is not is not the same thing.

So, in the legislative elections, you are calling to vote for Emmanuel Macron’s candidates?

No, I never said that. I will vote for my wife [Emmanuelle Ménard (divers droite), députée de la 6e circonscription de l’Hérault]. And I point out to you that she has a candidate from Mr. Macron against her. So, this is not a rallying to Mr. Macron! I’m not saying that you have to vote for Mr. Macron. Everyone, in conscience, can vote for whoever they want. But you have to know that there is a Popular Union which is a real danger for the conception I have of France, and the attachment I have to this France.

Do you understand that this position is surprising on your part?

Yes. And at the same time, I say the obvious. I find it normal that someone who voted, like me, for Marine le Pen in the first and second rounds, is still able to say that when Mr. Macron is right, he is right. It’s still incredible that in France, saying that poses a problem. What amazes me is that a reasonable attitude, of common sense, is at this point an astonishing element in the French political landscape. Unfortunately, the political class does not ask itself, today, if a political measure is good or not good, it first asks itself who is the bearer of this measure: if it is someone close to me, it is very good, and if I think the measure is good, but it is someone on the other side of the political spectrum, I condemn it. I will never be on this line.