Wauquiez fears the "dilution" of the right in Macron's party with Retailleau

"Having an Interior Minister is very useful, and Bruno (Retailleau) is doing it with all the energy he's trying to put into it," the Haute-Loire MP, who will face the Vendée native at a congress on May 17 and 18 for the presidency of LR, said on CNews-Europe1.

"I'm just saying that combining (Beauvau) with the presidency of the Republicans is taking the risk of the voice of the right disappearing and being diluted by Macronism," he warned, in the most direct attack on his rival since the start of the campaign.

Mr. Wauquiez assured that he perceived this risk of dilution in the Macronist movement in "the rumors that there could be a rapprochement" with Édouard Philippe, the former Prime Minister and Horizons candidate in the presidential election, believing that these rumors "are not clearly denied" by either camp.

"For me and with me, this will never be the case and I don't want it to be," assured Laurent Wauquiez, who reiterated his desire to embody "the break" with Macron's party, while admitting his "esteem" for Zemmourist MEP Sarah Knafo.

Asked about a possible electoral alliance with the head of Horizons in an interview published Wednesday by Valeurs Actuelles, the Minister of the Interior stated that he "does not know the project that Édouard Philippe wishes to carry out."

"Is this a true right-wing project? For the moment, it seems to me that it rather defends the idea of ​​a central bloc that would go from the democratic left to the conservative right. Without a clear line, we are condemned to impotence," he adds.

A supporter of Bruno Retailleau, however, acknowledged that the former Prime Minister's party was "in a seduction operation" with regard to LR elected officials, acknowledging that he himself had recently had contact with them.

"The ideal would be primaries to decide all of this," added this source, ruling out an agreement with other Macron parties such as the MoDem.