“Xavier Bertrand ticks all the boxes”: from Hérault, Stephan Rossignol has made his choice for the post of Prime Minister

Le maire de La Grande-Motte Stéphan Rossignol au soutien de Xavier Bertrand. Midi Libre – GIACOMO ITALIANO

Le maire de La Grande-Motte et ex-président des Républicains de l’Hérault espère une prochaine nomination de son compagnon de route, Xavier Bertrand, au poste de Premier ministre.

You have not spoken since June 11, the date of your resignation as president of the Hérault Republicans federation. Where are you today in your history with the party??

In my area, I remain a local and regional elected official, president of the Pays de l'Or agglomeration. And I am also still a member of the Republicans, even though I decided to leave my position as federal president to show my disagreement with the alliance formed between Éric Ciotti and the National Rally during the legislative elections. What followed showed that I had made the right choice. But since he does not have control over the party's finances, I continue to pay my contributions.

READ ALSO  – The mayor of La Grande-Motte Stéphan Rossignol resigns from the presidency of the Républicains de l’Hérault after the statement of Eric Ciotti

You are also a long-time companion of Xavier Bertrand, whose name is circulating for the post of Prime Minister…

We started politics together at the summer universities of the RPR Youth. I am also for the Hérault the referent of Nous France, the movement he launched, and it is in this capacity that I am speaking today to support this candidacy. The President will have to make decisions in the coming days, and he seems to me to be the person capable of bringing together enough political forces on the left, on the right and within the majority. His career speaks for him: he is not an ENA graduate, he presides over a region where he beat Marine Le Pen with the support of the left, he has been a minister on several occasions and has been able to carry out reforms… He ticks all the boxes to become Prime Minister in this very particular context.

“He is ready to take this risk, it is his Gaullist side”

Have you spoken with him ? Is he ready to take this risk ?

We talk regularly. A few of us recently met on video and the risk was raised. Everyone knows that he wants to be a candidate for President of the Republic in 2027. Everyone knows that he has a lot to lose by setting up a national unity government. Of course it's risky. But he's ready to take this risk, that's his Gaullist side, and I'll be at his side.

At his side, to the point of joining his hypothetical government?

No. I'm not a candidate. I am dedicated to the municipality and my territory. Of course, he will need loyal supporters around him if the President makes the proposal to him, but he will also have to rely on civil society, particularly business leaders.

What if all this was just a backfire lit by Emmanuel Macron ?

We now know the President of the Republic and his ability to maneuver. His last Prime Minister paid the price when he discovered the dissolution at the last moment. Of course it is a possibility. But I also see the support for Xavier Bertrand emerging within his own camp and his former ministers.

“We need someone who won't fall at the first motion of censure”

With a high turnout, the French nevertheless put the left in the lead in the elections on July 7. In this respect, can the post of Prime Minister escape the New Popular Front ?

No one is currently able to unite 289 MPs behind their name. That is a fact. As a result, the next Prime Minister will have to meet a certain number of criteria. And the first is that he does not fall with his government, as soon as the parliamentary session resumes next October, to the first motion of censure. A government led by Lucie Castets, with ministers from La France Insoumise, has no chance. Even within their alliance, the understanding is cracking.

To return to Hérault, could you take over the post of federal president if Éric Ciotti were excluded from the Republicans ?

I left, it's not to come back. But let's not be mistaken, the challenge is beyond the Republicans. The challenge for the right is to rebuild itself on a clear ideological corpus. This is the priority for the start of the school year. If this is not done and I no longer recognize myself in my political family, I will draw the consequences…

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