The bullfighter is injured but he wants to continue the fight: “no one can stop me from being a candidate” – he asserts with a firm voice.
But will the “circle of power” from his party (and yes, Mr. Ciotti, you have to look in the right direction!), allow him the opportunity?
Was the Trocadero demonstration meant to be a show of strength? Was it? Yes and no. The roughly 50,000 people present were not the overwhelming participation that was expected.
Was it intended to be a subscription of legitimacy? The presence of some heavyweights makes it seem so. The absence of others raises doubt. The behind-the-scenes work of Christian Estrosi, who certainly does not lack the blessing of the one titled “the don”, and the upcoming meeting of the LR Political Committee does not point towards unconditional support.
Was it intended to be a sort of public and popular absolution of the judicial grievances he is facing? Yes, François Fillon did so by speaking of “mistakes” but also of his “examination of conscience” to absolve himself, at least morally.
For a presidential candidate, that’s a bit short: he should know that morality, particularly in public life, is not a “hypothetical imperative” but “categorical” – as Immanuel Kant teaches us.
At the departmental level, the fields are being set.
On one side, Christian Estrosi with his “metropolitans” (plus the Mayor of Le Cannet Michèlle Tabarot) are standing firm: “With @xavierbertrand and @vpecresse, we want to meet @FrancoisFillon to discuss ways out of the crisis.”
On the other side, Eric Ciotti who gathers the “departmentals” Collette Giudicelli (and one can imagine her husband, the mayor of Menton, Guibal), Charles-Ange Ginesy, David Lisnard, and others, such as Senator Jean-Pierre Lelleux and Deputy Lionnel Lucca.
For him (now promoted in François Fillon’s Praetorian Guard), the battle is engaged: “They wanted to prevent you from gathering, but you are here! You are the standing people of France, who resist.”
