Coming out of his silence, former President Nicolas Sarkozy reaffirms his support for Emmanuel Macron. “I was very transparent during the presidential campaign, I supported him. If I had to do it again, I would do it again, ”he assures in the columns of the JDD this Sunday.
“I did not want (Jean-Luc) Mélenchon or (Marine) Le Pen. In France’s interest, the best possible decision was therefore to help President Macron,” he said again.
As for his decision not to vote for the candidate of his own political family, Valérie Pécresse, the former president evokes the latter’s lack of “credibility”. “In order to elect a candidate in the second round, he still had to be qualified. Or have a credible chance of being qualified,” Nicolas Sarkozy addresses.
The latter, on the contrary, praises Emmanuel Macron’s “calmness” and rejection of “any form of excess”, but invites him to “cross the Rubicon” by positioning himself more frankly to the right of the political spectrum.
“France must take the lead” in Ukraine
While the government used article 49.3 on Wednesday on the 2023 budget vote, Nicolas Sarkozy said he understood this choice because of the absence of an absolute majority. But he asks Emmanuel Macron to be careful: “he is in the position of a hunter who does not have an infinite supply of ammunition.”
Supporting the Government in particular in its intention to delay the retirement age – “the only effective measure to guarantee our pension plan” – and in its handling of the fuel crisis – “as we see, things are improving” – Nicolas Sarkozy also approves at the international level the maintenance of dialogue with Vladimir Putin despite the Russian attacks in Ukraine.
“It is up to France to take the lead in this crisis,” he declared to our colleagues at the JDD. “It is high time that serious initiatives were taken to talk about the future and peace.”
Regarding the appointment of the new Republican president in December, Nicolas Sarkozy does not intend to “abandon his political family”, but refuses to “choose” a candidate. “I will not choose a candidate because I would get too involved in the internal affairs of the party. It’s not my role anymore,” he says.
Source: BFM TV
