Eric Ciotti, Aurélien Pradié and Bruno Retailleau will have an hour and a half to convince LR voters that they are best able to raise their party, which fell to 4.8% of the vote in the last presidential election.
The program will begin with an introductory minute where everyone will explain the reasons for their candidacy. Chance of the draw, Bruno Retailleau will speak first, followed by Eric Ciotti then Aurélien Pradié.
The order will be reversed for the concluding minute. Between the two will be addressed three themes: sovereign, economy / social then ecology, before more political questions on the right. The international, with the war in Ukraine, will also be on the program.
Many on the right see this evening as a boost before the first round of the election scheduled for the weekend of December 3, which will take place by electronic voting for some 91,000 members.
“Monday evening, we will see more clearly,” says an LR executive, according to whom “people are very divided”.
“They say Ciotti is too RN, Retailleau a clam frog, and Pradié nobody knows him”, squeaks this executive who sighs: “there is no excitement for anyone”.
In this race Eric Ciotti, 57, passes for the favorite with a very firm line on the sovereign, in particular immigration which has become omnipresent in the news.
“His strength is his notoriety, the clarity of his convictions, he has never apologized for being on the right and has never given in to political correctness”, assures Geoffrey Didier, head of his project, according to whom “he does not is not the favorite by chance. He earned his stripes during the primary.
– Challenger –
Arguing his loyalty to LR, boss of the powerful LR federation of the Alpes-Maritimes, he promises if he is elected to work for the designation of the very popular Laurent Wauquiez as presidential candidate for 2027.
But some fear that his very right line will lead to a wave of departures, especially among elected officials, and worry about relations with centrist allies.
Opposite, the boss of the senators LR Bruno Retailleau, 62, poses as a unifier, and very early garnered the support of elected officials.
Credited with a more moderate image, even if he comes from the movement of Philippe de Villiers, this representative of the conservative wing has adopted a very firm tone on the sovereign lately. He also promises a definitive break with Nicolas Sarkozy.
“It has moved the lines a lot”, we want to believe in his camp, certain that “the dynamic is on Bruno’s side”.
“He has more perspective, he was able to better perceive expectations. Ciotti is trying to refocus, but it’s an extremely risky bet for him,” adds a member of his team.
Finally, Aurélien Pradié, deputy for Lot and secretary general of LR, is a challenger at 36 years old.
“For him, the challenge of the debate is to make himself known”, recognizes in his close guard the deputy Pierre-Henri Dumont, according to whom “the election is not played on the right wing of the party”.
Promising renewal, Aurélien Pradié does not hesitate to take his family the wrong way, whether on the merits (against the decline in the retirement age) or on the form (with well-felt formulas).
With the support of Xavier Bertrand and the young guard of the party, he promises to change everything at LR if he is elected.
In this long campaign where the candidates have multiplied the trips, the climate has become tense in the home stretch.
Thursday, Eric Ciotti seized the High Authority of LR to denounce the dissemination of “false polls” (in fact consultations) giving him the loser against Bruno Retailleau.
After the debate, the three candidates will meet on Saturday 26 before the National Council of LR (its “parliament”) for a last great oral.
