Jérôme Baloge is very enthusiastic on the eve of this prestigious visit, Saturday January 15th. For the mayor of Niort, the former Prime Minister is “the statesman” who is lacking in France, “capable of facing the challenges of our society”.
Niort is preparing to welcome a presidential candidate…from 2027. The former Prime Minister chose the Deux-Sévrien capital to launch his tour of France with a view to developing his new “Horizons” party, in a context of tensions with Emmanuel Macron. According to Le Parisien, the President of the Republic would have intervened to prevent the merger of the movement with “Agir” by Franck Riester.
Édouard Philippe likes to come to Niort during presidential election years. In 2017, having just been promoted to head of government, the Juppeist had already visited Jérōme Baloge, the Niortais councilor and member of the Valois Radical Party. The two men respect each other and share a number of political ideas. Jérôme Baloge even has a form of admiration for him, judging by the content of the interview he gave us this Friday afternoon.
This coming of Édouard Philippe to Niort, is it an invitation or an almost unexpected visit?
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It is the first stage of a tour of France that Édouard Philippe has decided to start and we are happy to welcome him to Niort.
Between you, is it political friendship or ambition?
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I think it’s mostly a relationship of esteem. He is a politician that I got to know. Qwhen he was still mayor of Le Havre and deputy. I found that he was apart and seeing his exercise of power, his way of being, I observe that he is a man who has not changed, who has remained the same, which requires real solidity. . Édouard Philippe is a statesman. I’m often very critical of national politicians, I’m not the only one (smile), and he stands out a lot for his approach to things. He is not a man who is into controversy or provocation. It seems to me both voluntary, ambitious for the country, which also has this wisdom, this elegance of behavior. It is important to bring the French together because I think that one day we will have to bring the French together again. His horizon is 2027.
And you chose to support Édouard Philippe by going to the creation of his new Horizons movement a few months ago. Do you, like him, have a national objective for 2027?
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It is companionship. We are not from the same background and yet I appreciate the way he is progressing. My ambitions are those of any citizen for a country that regains the appetite for living together, the will to move forward and that takes up all the major challenges which are immense. There, we are in the midst of a health crisis, yesterday we were in something else. But there are other issues that interest France and Édouard Philippe has the quality of a statesman to deal with them. It is not enough to have ideas, you also need to have men and women to carry them. Édouard Philippe is of that caliber.
Finally, to hear you, it’s almost a shame that we’re not already in 2027, with today a certain shift in motion…
– I don’t know if it’s a question of right or left. Today Édouard Philippe is the most popular French politician according to a recent study, all sensibilities combined.
He has the ability to unite, that’s what France will need tomorrow. (Smile) but yes, I wish it had been for sooner! I’m quite impatient but I understand that it can only be in 2027. That’s what interests me: there are other deadlines with other subjects. It’s not about erasing them. It is a time horizon which is close but which is long. A lot will happen but it’s a great adventure.
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