Edouard Philippe has held back since the start of Emmanuel Macron’s second term. While this Saturday March 25 will be held the first congress of his party, Horizons, in Paris, he returned, for our colleagues from Figaro, to the difficult situation of the majority, after the disputed adoption of the pension reform.
For the potential candidate for the presidential election of 2027, “when we go through a crisis of this nature, we always come out of it through a form of remobilization and initiative.” If he does not know how to specify which initiative is necessary, for him, “it will be up to the President of the Republic to formulate clear priorities, in which the French recognize themselves: ecological transition, reindustrialization, school, health… All these urgent and long-term problems facing our country.”
“France is a parliamentary regime: when you don’t have an absolute majority, you have to build one. We have four years ahead of us: not trying to stabilize the political game is incredibly dangerous and uncertain.” The former prime minister would therefore like a central coalition to form around the majority. “Then, can the majority function better? The answer is yes. We can make progress to work in good intelligence so that the next four years are not four years of uncertainty or blockage”, reports Le Figaro.
Finally, Edouard Philippe assures that his Horizons party supports the government and the Prime Minister “without hesitation, without procrastination, and with requirement.” However, the former prime minister has distinguished himself by his positions different from those of Emmanuel Macron on the pension reform.
Between Edouard Philippe and Emmanuel Macron, the distance is required. On February 2, on BFMTV, Edouard Philippe spoke of “cordial”, “loyal”, but “distant” relations with the president. The pension reform has accentuated their differences. Emmanuel Macron criticized Edouard Philippe for his discretion in January on the subject of pensions. He also criticized the reservations of some of the Horizons deputies on the reform. Édouard Philippe, he did not appreciate that the government capitulated on long careers for the benefit of the LR and not of his party.
On Tuesday March 21, during the meeting organized by Emmanuel Macron for the elected representatives of the majority, Edouard Philippe spoke of a controversial outcome to the pension reform crisis. “Mr. President, you have several options, including withdrawing the text,” he said according to Le Parisien. A hypothesis rejected en bloc by the president since the beginning of the debates on the reform.
The distance between the two men would also be explained by the potential presidential ambitions of Edouard Philippe and his young Horizons party. According to the leader of the Horizons group in the Assembly, Laurent Marcangeli, “our existence is disturbing. That Édouard is popular, that he creates his party, that he has a parliamentary group, it is displeasing.”
The crisis situation of the executive and the decline in popularity of Emmanuel Macron seems to be a boon for the potential candidate for the presidential election of 2027. Discreet as to his ambitions, Edouard Philippe would campaign “under the radar”, ” outside the Parisian ring road”, according to his relatives.
Its strategy for 2027 goes largely through its young political party Horizons and its 20,000 members. “I continue to develop what is destined to become a great political formation, sure of its values, present everywhere in the territory, rooted, working on a long-term strategy, with people who want to work together”, a- he revealed to Figaro.
Edouard Philippe hopes to gather several thousand supporters on Saturday March 25 at the Parc Floral in Paris for his speech at the first Horizons congress. For those close to him, Edouard Philippe could establish himself as the “natural candidate” of the moderate right, against the putative Renaissance candidates: Gérald Darmanin and Bruno Le Maire.
