The mayor of Toulouse Jean-Luc Moudenc (LR): “It’s not a defeat, it’s an annihilation”
The LR mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc, analyzes the first round of the presidential election and explains to “La Dépêche” how he sees the future of his party.
With just over 7,000 votes in Toulouse and 27,000 in Haute-Garonne, the Republican candidate, Valérie Pécresse obtained the worst score in the history of her political family. The LR mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc, analyzes the first round of the presidential election and explains to “La Dépêche” how he sees the future of his party.
Were you surprised by the extent or the weakness of certain scores, in particular those of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Valérie Pécresse in Toulouse?
Opinion polls suggested that we were heading towards this result, but it was accentuated at the polls. The polls are weighing more and more on the choice of voters, especially in the last few days. Voters made tactical choices, which boosted Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s score. As for Valérie Pécresse, she suffered like Anne Hidalgo the accentuation of the useful vote in the last days.
Should local responsibilities be sought in the poor results of Vaérie Pécresse?
No, it’s as if we blamed Carole Delga or Sébastien Vincini for Anne Hidalgo’s bad score in Occitania or Haute-Garonne. The first round of the presidential election is a national vote. People quickly change their vote. It is hard to imagine that the departmental and regional elections, which saw the Socialist Party triumph, occurred less than a year ago! Local factors did not come into play at all.
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Presidential election in Haute-Garonne: the Toulouse right no longer knows where it lives
The defeat of Valérie Pécresse sealed the future of your party. Are you going to let go without waiting?
I have decided to be loyal to my party until the end of the current electoral cycle. I will support all my LR friends who will run for the legislative elections and after that, we will see. For now we are only halfway through the presidential election. Let’s wait for the results of the second round.
Some candidates already invested by LR are wondering and are starting to consider not running…
It’s up to them, I haven’t told them yet. However, I would like to point out that the presidential election and the legislative elections, even if they are linked, are two different ballots. The presidential is very personalized. Moreover, the electorate has never been so volatile. At the end of February Marine Le Pen was credited with 14.5% of the voting intentions, we see where she ends up… Valérie Pécresse was at 20% in December, Eric Zemmour at 17% six months ago and Jean-Luc Mélenchon at 9%! Voters exercise their sovereignty by granting surprises.
You indicated that you would vote for Emmanuel Macron in the second round. You also wanted him to bring a large gathering “which cannot be limited to poaching”. What did you mean?
We have seen in recent months rallies to the head of state in an individual capacity. I’m not sure that it serves me or that it gives a good image of politics. A gathering is something else. The President of the Republic has every interest in not sticking to his majority. It is up to him to make substantive gestures that would allow the gathering. It is up to him to provide content. In general, the parties did not know how to address the popular categories, the French people who suffered the most.
What do you think should be the future of LR?
It’s not a defeat, it’s an annihilation. We are not going to find a magic formula in a few days. The parties are deadly, and that’s normal, and it will take time to rebuild. It is a vast construction site which opens and which will have to answer the following question: how to address the popular categories and to make more room for the most modest.
If the legislative elections took place today, rebellious France would win four constituencies, including two in Toulouse. Does this worry you?
Yes, because if LFI has been able to capture fears and real problems, it does not provide the right answers. His program is dangerous and if applied, would lead France to chaos, in the same way as Marine Le Pen.