LR: Dati is ironic about his expulsion from the party, Olivier Marlet threatens to send a “bailiff”

The appointment of Rashida Dati to the government is poorly received by the Republicans. The party will have a candidate for the municipal elections in Paris “who will not be” the current minister of culture, the leader of the LR deputies, Olivier Marlet, assured on Wednesday, referring to the possibility of sending a “bailiff” to Rachida Dati to notify her of his expulsion from the party.

“Rachida Dati has de facto left the Republicans, joining what she herself called a party of traitors on the left and right,” Olivier Marlet told the Association of Parliamentary Journalists (AJP) in the National Assembly.

Dati intends to remain mayor

A surprise guest of the new government, the new culture minister, a figure of Sarcosism and the Parisian right, confirmed on Wednesday that she will stand in the 2026 municipal elections in Paris. And she joked about her expulsion from LR, which party president Eric Ciotti announced after her appointment. “I’m still in LR and I told him that I’m still waiting for my OQTF (obligation to leave French territory, editor’s note) from LR,” she joked on RTL on Wednesday.

But for Olivier Marlet, her exclusion is obvious, and she needs to have “elegance and intelligence” to accept it without formality. “If she wants to play like this, we will send a bailiff to her if necessary to notify her,” he added.

In Paris, “the Republicans will have their own candidate, who will not be Rachid Dati,” he assured. On Wednesday, several elected Parisian deputies and related officials said the mayor of the 7th arrondissement was set to step down as president of their group. “I will naturally remain among you, in our group,” she said in a message sent to those elected officials. She also intends to remain mayor.

Macron ‘very worried about elections’

“Political life is about convictions, not a personal career,” said Olivier Marlet, taking the opportunity to once again criticize the decision of Bruno Le Maire and Gérald Darmanin to leave their political family and join Emmanuel Macron.

“In 2026, I think the real difficulty will be with the macroonists,” he predicted, reasoning that “macronism does not exist in deep France.” In the short term, a result of around 18% in the European elections for the Renaissance Party would mean “a premature end to Macronism in our country.” “Precisely because he is very worried about the results of the polls,” Emmanuel Macron decided to reshuffle his government, according to Olivier Marlet, with the idea of ​​“setting up an Attal-Bardell match with an eye to the European elections,” because “RN is his favorite opposition.” .