BERTRAND GUAY / AFP
Michel Barnier is a candidate for the partial legislative in the second district of Paris after the invalidation of the election of Macronist deputy Jean Laussucq, close to Rachida Dati.
POLITICS – A diplomatic step, or confirmation of future tensions? Michel Barnier, candidate for the partial legislative to come in the second district of Paris, assures that he had “No municipal ambition” In Paris in 2026 in a letter addressed to Parisian activists Friday July 18. A message that seems above all intended for Rachida Dati, which has always made the town hall of Paris its main political objective.
“I have no municipal ambition. My commitment is exclusive and loyal: represent our district in the National Assembly, with seriousness, dignity and constancy ”writes Michel Barnier in his published letter. “I want to express a respectful and placed voice in a hemicycle too often divided”, he continues.
The announcement, Tuesday, of the ex-Prime Minister’s candidacy in the Huppée second district of the capital sparked the anger of Rachida Dati. The mayor of the 7th arrondissement, which openly aims at the Town Hall, said that she was also planning to present herself to this partial legislative.
And some in the entourage of the Minister of Culture suspect Michel Barnier to want to present himself in her place in Paris in 2026, in case she is “Prevented” After his indictment in a corruption case with the former boss of Renault Carlos Ghosn.
A battle that makes disorder in LR
This battle of ambitions between two heavyweights of the Republicans is disorder in a party where the rivalries are exacerbated between the boss of LR Bruno Retailleau and that of the group in the Assembly, Laurent Wauquiez. Bruno Retailleau clearly supports Michel Barnier’s candidacy in the second district of the capital.
Laurent Wauquiez for his part voted for the reform of the municipal ballot in Paris, Lyon and Marseille (PLM), which provides for more direct suffrage for the election of the mayor and could benefit Rachida Dati in his race at the town hall of Paris. The Senators of the LR group, of which Bruno Retailleau was the president,, on the other hand, voted against the PLM.
The National Commission for Inauguration of the Republicans must rule on July 28 on its candidate in the second constituency. This partial legislative must be held at the start of the school year, no later than mid-October. It follows the invalidation by the Constitutional Council, for irregularities in its campaign accounts, of the election of Macronist deputy Jean LAUSSUCQ, a relative of Rachida Dati.
