The final stop of his summer beach tour was at the Saint-Laurent-du-Var Nautical Center in the presence of a small crowd, a sample of Gallican France, with people white-skinned and white-haired (women being more at liberty to choose their hair color on that front).
On this occasion, Bruno Le Maire kicked off the parade of primary candidates who will seek support and votes in one of the departments that carry significant weight in the right-wing electorate.
He is the “newcomer” of the competition, facing the experienced Fillon, Juppé, Sarkozy, plus a plethora of outsiders seeking rehabilitation like Copé, positioning themselves to better negotiate their withdrawal and support for one candidate or another, or simply looking for a media surge.
He also portrays himself as someone who can better embody the renewal of politics and the right, compared to these old hands, even though he himself has long been involved in ministerial cabinets and, more directly, as a parliamentary representative (first elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2012), regional councilor from 2010 to 2016, and Minister of European and Agricultural Affairs in Nicolas Sarkozy’s term.
In the department, Bruno Le Maire found a courageous ally in Joseph Ségura, mayor of Saint-Laurent-du-Var, who risked alienating the powerful Sarkozy faction that controls almost all local power with a strong hand and likely did not look kindly on this disobedience. And what to say about the young Christelle Dintorni, mayor of Rimplas, who was quickly propelled from her village to departmental and then regional council positions?
Both are daredevils whose willingness to stray from well-trodden paths deserves recognition.
To better understand the concept, just read the names of the 80 signatories of the manifesto supporting Nicolas Sarkozy, published the day before yesterday, to find the imprint of a vertically managed power hierarchy.
So what does the youngest contender of this quartet, who will be vying for the top candidate spot of a right feeling the wind at its back for reclaiming power, propose?
With François Hollande in Gehenna, the winner of the primary will most likely be the frontrunner to become the next occupant of the Elysee Palace.
But what kind of right are we talking about? If Alain Juppé represents a moderate right (almost a center), François Fillon the liberal one, and Nicolas Sarkozy the identity-focused, Bruno Le Maire speaks of a “just society.”
His proposals primarily target a political class that voters, rightly or wrongly, consider a “caste”: a cap at three consecutive terms, reduction to 400 deputies and 2 senators per department, and a requirement for civil servants to resign (and not just take leave) if elected to public office can only be applauded with enthusiasm by a large audience despite the heat.
Bruno Le Maire demands a 150-page labor code, a single social allowance, a six-month processing period for asylum requests, a complete tax reform favorable to risk and work, which according to him involves the abolition of the solidarity tax on wealth (ISF) and the reduction of capital gains tax.
In the field of education, he opposes the college reform project presented by Najat Vallaud-Belkacem in spring 2015. He wants the college not to have a common core but to offer options that would allow a choice between general or professional training, putting future head and hand professions on the same level (lucky him who at 11 already knew he would be an alum of ENA!).
Regarding the social aspect, a tightening is planned to prevent beneficiaries from profiting excessively: various aids will be combined into one that cannot exceed 60% of the minimum wage. The impact is guaranteed!
Finally, the candidate addressed security issues, firmly stating there is no question of leaving the floor open to Nicolas Sarkozy’s identity-focused line.
Bruno Le Maire chose the hard line: patriotism in schools, curricula must revive patriotic sentiment, the history of France celebrated as befits a great Nation!; sanctions for “S” file individuals with expulsion from the territory for foreigners, appropriate new legislation to combat aggressive and provocative Islam, and a revival of republican secularism.
Needless to say, the message resonated pleasantly with the attendees, ensuring success.
All that remains for Bruno Le Maire is to convert this goodwill into votes at the ballot box. We can only note his optimism.
