Presidency of the Republicans: after his victory, Wauquiez seeks to spare sensitivities

It all started well though. The victory barely known, his cell phone did not stop ringing. Laurent Wauquiez, now patron of the Republicans, first had his mother on Sunday evening, Éliane Wauquiez-Motte, mayor of Chambon-sur-Lignon, who came to see him several times during the campaign, then Nicolas Sarkozy who called him to congratulate him, or even François Fillon who he had met last Thursday face to face. Laurent Wauquiez also had its two competitors Florence Portelli and Maël de Calan – with whom he has an appointment this Tuesday at the headquarters of the Republicans – as well as Bernard Accoyer and some of his close supporters like Brice Hortefeux.

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And the pace picked up again on Monday. Laurent Wauquiez returned to the LR party, rue de Vaugirard, as elected president. Not a real change when you know that his old office was a few meters from the one he will now occupy, on the 8th floor of the building. At 9:30 a.m., the new party boss had an appointment with Bernard Accoyer for a handover and an update on the Republicans, a year after the secretary general took office. At the time, the two men looked at each other like earthen dogs: the forties wanted the party when the other, support of François Fillon who had appointed him, was wary of the ambition of the youngest. Since then, the two men have learned to work together and Bernard Accoyer warmly welcomed the victory of the new head of LR.

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Monday morning, Laurent Wauquiez also had a number of right-wing personalities such as Édouard Balladur, Nicolas Sarkozy on the phone to discuss, among other things, his 20 p.m. on TF1, Alain Juppé a handful of seconds – the mayor of Bordeaux was on an appointment -vous -, Joseph Daul, President of the European People's Party (EPP), to come back to the preparation of the EPP summit – which Laurent Wauquiez will attend on Thursday alongside Angela Merkel.

The boss of the Republicans also exchanged a few text messages with Xavier Bertrand, before he announced his departure from the party on Monday evening, to try to agree on a meeting date, had a friendly interview with Christian Estrosi… but he didn't have time to call Valérie Pécresse. She neither. Day too busy for the two regional presidents obviously. Especially since Wauquiez wanted to prepare his first television appearance.

On the TF1 news set, the party boss reiterated his desire to bring together “all those who are in good faith and want to learn from the mistakes of the past”. “For me, what matters is to re-offer the French people a political choice. We were able to disappoint the French, what I want is to reaffirm the values ​​of the right, ”he continued, eager to embody the opposition against Emmanuel Macron.

A double message that the juppeists, at this stage still members of LR, listened to carefully, placing Wauquiez under "observation". Like the first of them, Alain Juppé. “Election without suspense at LR. Very clear victory for Laurent Wauquiez. It's up to him to play, now, with his generation, ”reacted the mayor of Bordeaux on Twitter, preferring to greet his foal Maël de Calan. “Alain Juppé observes and waits to see. The vote spoke clearly. But it's total bias. And between talking about gathering like Wauquiez and doing this gathering, there is a cap, ”explains a close friend of the mayor of Bordeaux.

An observation shared by Jean-Pierre Raffarin. On France Inter, the former prime minister also explained that he watched “Laurent Wauquiez with vigilance” and deemed “ambiguous” the position of the new president of LR against the FN during the inter-rounds of the presidential election.

Xavier Bertrand leaves the party, Bussereau wonders

However, the juppeists allow themselves time before deciding. Like Dominique Bussereau. “I will make my decision in front of the tree, in the warmth of the family home”, specifies the president LR of the departmental council of Charente-Maritime and president of the Association of the departments of France. If he does not rule out the possibility of a departure from LR, no other political offer interests him at the moment. “Agir is a small family, very friendly, but if I had to leave the Republicans, it would be to be an elected official without a label, various right”, he maintains, considering that the “ball” is today in the camp of the new president of LR.

Despite the departure of Xavier Bertrand, the person concerned does not intend to let go immediately … On Tuesday, he will go to the meeting of LR deputies alongside Christian Jacob, the president of the group in the Assembly. Before a lunch with Gérard Larcher, the president of the Senate.