Presidency of LR: Éric Ciotti displays his ability to mobilize – Le Figaro

Unveiling his campaign slogan “the right to the heart”, the candidate for the presidency of LR, Éric Ciotti made his political comeback on Saturday evening in front of 4,000 people in his stronghold of the Alpes-Maritimes. “Here my friends we are in coherence, in the straight line, the clear line”, he launched in Levens, in the hinterland of Nice, assuring: “I am on the right, I have the straight to the heart, and it is this message that I want to convey”.Huge tables decked out in blue, white and red, a stage adorned with a gigantic tricolor flag and a rock star welcome with cries of “Eric president”: the traditional “meeting of friends of Éric Ciotti” looked like a show of force, three months before the election of the party president. His main opponent, on December 3, will probably be the boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau, supported by many elected officials. To read also Éric Ciotti: “The bill on the right to vote for foreigners is a political provocation” Saturday, Éric Ciotti also wanted to show his support: the deputies Eric Pauget and Michèle Tabarot, the president of young people LR Guihem Carayon, the mayor of Cannes David Lisnard … But he recalled it during a press point: “These are the activists who will decide. And he assured to have their “confidence”, strong of the mobilization in his federation of the Alpes-Maritimes which has again become the first in France with 3,500 members. Éric Ciotti also recalled the surprise that his accession to the final of the LR primary had constituted: “Few would have predicted the result. I trust the common sense of activists”. In this election, Eric Ciotti intends to defend a “faithful and unambiguous” roadmap, with the compass “authority, freedom, identity, work”, even if he wanted to broaden its message to the economy by advocating a reduction in taxes “of at least 125 billion euros over a five-year period”. Some at LR fear an overly muscular line but for Éric Ciotti, “the Republican right is strong because it assumes itself, it does not give in to political correctness. This is perhaps why we have contained the push of more right-wing political formations”. “Our family is today threatened with extinction” and rather than “homeopathy” we need “shock therapy” with “a real project of rupture”, according to him. He repeated his intention to “designate the candidate for the next presidential election from the start of 2023” if he takes the helm of LR. “For my part, I will support Laurent Wauquiez,” he added.