Laurent Wauquiez gives up chairing Les Républicains but looks to 2027

Published on: 07/17/2022 – 20:04 Laurent Wauquiez, who left the head of the Republicans in 2019 after the failure of the Europeans, announced on Sunday that he would not take over the reins of the party. The president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, however, set the course for the presidential election of 2027, affirming that “we must seek new ideas”. He was a favorite to succeed Christian Jacob. But the president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region announced on Sunday July 17 that he would not run for the presidency of his party Les Républicains (LR) in the fall, while setting the date for the presidential election of 2027. “Today, after much thought, I have decided not to be a candidate for the presidency of the Republicans”, he wrote in a long text published on Facebook, with the false air of a declaration of candidacy – early – at the Élysée. “I make this choice because I believe that we must devote all our energy to this refoundation to which our country aspires. Such a requirement does not support any dispersion. We must give ourselves totally to it. ; we must distance ourselves from the political fight”, adds the former minister of the Fillon governments. A new party leader in November Faced with the current political situation, “we must seek new ideas, have time to prepare”, writes Laurent Wauquiez. “You have to be creative, review everything”. “The alternative that we must build must go beyond questions of devices. I am convinced that this is the only way that will make it possible to be at the rendezvous of the great choice democracy of 2027. It is, neither more nor less, than building a change of the same nature as that of 1958”, continues Laurent Wauquiez. “The subject is neither Emmanuel Macron nor Marine le Pen, the subject is the aftermath”, insists the chosen one. >> See also: Legislative 2022: The Republicans, opposition party or pact with Emmanuel Macron? Aged 47, Laurent Wauquiez left the presidency of LR in 2019 after the failure of his camp in the European elections. LR must convene its congress in the fall to appoint the successor to Christian Jacob, who left the presidency of the party on July 1 after having held the position for three years. He was temporarily replaced by number two, Doubs MP Annie Genevard. Dati, Retailleau, Bellamy… Several names are circulating from the LR group in the Senate Bruno Retailleau, the European deputy François-Xavier Bellamy, the deputies Éric Ciotti, Annie Genevard, the ex-minister Michel Barnier or David Lisnard, mayor of Cannes and president of the Association of mayors of France. The Republican candidate for the 2022 presidential election, Valérie Pécresse, won only 4.8% of the vote in the first round. With 61 deputies, the LR group is the third opposition group in the National Assembly. He is in the majority in the Senate. With Reuters and AFP