Valérie Pécresse, candidate of the Republicans, the party of the moderate right, the result of the neo-Galilist tradition, stopped at 4.79% of the votes in the first round of the presidential elections. Yannick Jadot, from the Greens (the Europe Ecologie-Les Verts party), did even worse, 4.58%. And let’s not talk about Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, of the Socialist Party (PS), stuck at 1.74%. For the three a political catastrophe (they are historical formations, in particular the Republicans and the Socialists, the traditional right and left, once the two pivots of French political life). But it is also a financial disaster, which questions the very future of the three formations. Who will not have access to the bulk of public reimbursements for election expenses.
Let’s start with the political catastrophe. In the first round of 2017, the then candidate of the Republicans, François Fillon, despite being overwhelmed by a major financial scandal, managed to grab 20% of the votes, finishing in third position. And Pécresse, once elected to the party primaries in early December, immediately jumped up in the polls, going to install Macron himself. But the phenomenon then deflated. As for the Greens, at the 2019 Europeans they surprised 13.5% of the votes with great success. The following year, at the municipal offices, they had managed to conquer a number of large cities, such as Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg. There were high hopes for candidate Jadot, but there was nothing to be done. As for the socialists, suffice it to recall that ten years ago they managed to get François Hollande elected to the top of the country. And in the beginning someone believed in Hidalgo as an anti-Macron. But he was a flop.
French law provides for a major reimbursement of presidential election expenses only if the candidate exceeds 5%. Below it is limited to 800 thousand euros flat rate. Above, however, on the basis of receipts then verified, we reach up to eight million euros. The trio Pécresse, Jadot and Hidalgo counted on us to go beyond the threshold (the first above all, until the end). And now they find themselves with a big hole in their accounts, which could jeopardize the future of their parties. Last night, at the announcement of the results of the first round, Jadot, in front of him, wasted no time: “Political ecology – he said – needs your support from tonight”. Europe Ecologie-Les Verts loaned Jadot € 1.2 million at the start of the campaign (which he will never see again). But above all, a credit of 6.4 million was signed with a bank, the Crédit Cooperatif (the loan is contracted in the name of the candidate). The first installment (two million) will have to be paid in May. In all, five million would be missing, which for the party is really a lot.
As for Pécresse, arriving at the Republican headquarters this morning, with tears in his eyes, he said: “I launch a national appeal for gifts to all those who gave me their vote, to all those who chose the” useful vote “(Ed, probably preferring Emmanuel Macron to already blockade Marine Le Pen), but also to all the French who are attached to political pluralism and freedom of expression”. His campaign cost seven million (only the big meeting at the Zénith in Paris, where Pécresse’s performance was bad and his decline began, cost 500 thousand euros). Of the seven, two million have already been covered by the party’s coffers, but for the rest a bank loan has been used, signed by the woman. “I am indebted on a personal level – she specified – for five million”. Everyone was reminded of the Sarkothon, as the fundraiser was called among the Republican militants to reimburse 11 million of election expenses made in 2012 by Nicolas Sarkozy (he had really exaggerated). Will a Telethon for Pécresse be possible today? Meanwhile, on social media there are acid comments against the woman, who, at the beginning of the campaign, made known her personal assets (it is an obligation for all candidates in France), equal to ten million euros for her. And so many today think that the hole should pay for it out of her pocket and not resort to offers …
No reaction from the socialists for now. But the party’s situation has been shaky for some time. It already has a debt of eight million euros, despite the fact that in 2017 it sold its historic headquarters, in rue Solferino, a building in one of the most chic neighborhoods of Paris. In any case, the three troubled parties are now aiming for the parliamentary elections in June, when they could still get deputies in the National Assembly. And, through them, to extract the contributions to the political formations provided for by the law.
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