Former French Prime Minister Philippe's "Portal to Independence" refers to the 2027 presidential election

Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe plans to formally announce the formation of his own political party on October 9, aiming to help his own party members get elected in the next parliamentary elections, and of course, to prepare for the arrival of the post-Macron era.

France's BFMTV tv reported that former Prime Minister Philippe, who is currently the mayor of Le Havre, is officially preparing to launch the formation of his own political party. In recent weeks, a barrage of emails, invitations, and letters have shuttled back and forth between Paris and Le Havre to persuade lawmakers to win their support. Currently, 3,500 people have registered for the grand gathering to be held in Le Havre.

Analyze the situation in the country and determine the symbol of the new party

On the afternoon of October 8, Philippe will meet with the party "République des maires" (République des maires), led by Christophe Béchu, the mayor of Angers. Then, that evening, we will have dinner with Philip; the next day he will give a speech formally announcing the creation of a new party," Karl Olive, mayor of Poissy, Yvelines, detailed the weekend schedule in an interview with BFMTV. Philippe's speech should help him gauge the situation in France 7 months before the presidential election and give a more detailed explanation of the creation of a new party. During the speech, the former prime minister will also unveil the new party's logo and name.

Edward Philip. (Source: China News Service)

Growing differences with the ruling party?

Philip's initiative to create a new party, which was initially friendly to the ruling Republican Forward Party (République en Marche), is now under suspicion as the new party is about to be formed. In an interview with Challenges in early October, former Prime Minister Philippe publicly criticized France's debt management and potentially delayed pension reforms as if they had shown "clues." "This is very bad for Macron," a close associate of the Elysee Palace in the presidential palace said bluntly in a recent interview with BFMTV. Philippe's initiative is somewhat surprising, just a few days ago, when he was on TF1, he promised Macron that he would be "loyal" and would "fully support".

"To go or not to go": The ruling party is in a dilemma

At this point, whether to send political leaders to the congress has caused controversy within the ruling party. "We all feel a little bit torn between right and wrong. We ask ourselves whether we should send someone at the risk of possibly making him angry, which could be dangerous, but on the contrary, if we have to send some big party leaders to show him that we have faith. But we also don't want to send some signals to some MPs," one left-wing MPs in the party told BFMTV.

Recently, after a meeting between the French centrist party Movement for Democracy (MoDem) and the Republican Forward Party, the three chairmen of the group with the majority of the ruling party in the National Assembly finally decided to attend the meeting. In addition to Christophe Castaner of the Republican Forward Party, Patrick Mignola of the Pro-Democracy Movement and Olivier Brecht of the DaP, about 30 MPs should also be present at the weekend convention. Among them are Marie Guévenoux and Aurore Bergé from the Republican Party (LR), as well as Cendra Motin, Thomas Mesnier and Naïma Moutchou, who do not belong to the right wing of the ruling party.

Intentional coveting of 80 constituencies

The list of MPs who traveled to Le Havre over the weekend has also attracted much attention. "The parliamentarians' visits to the conference are not really in line with their true wishes. For outgoing MPs, they are hot candidates for re-election," said one party executive.

In fact, there is no need to show loyalty to the former Prime Minister in the hope of being able to become a candidate again in the parliamentary elections. "There will definitely be competition internally. If Philippe wants dozens of former Republican lawmakers to gather under the presidential majority, it is clear that some Republican Forward lawmakers will have to give up their seats," a lawmaker close to the former prime minister told BFMTV. France's La Dépêche du Midi explained that Philippe also coveted 80 constituencies, where the outgoing Macron mp was not dominant.

Continue to disintegrate the right

"Our goal is to unite these mayors who are neither Adima nor DAP today. Our aim is not to compete with anyone at all," Arnaud Péricard, mayor of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, told BFMTV in early October. Still, some say the formation of the new party is not a good thing for Macron to allow him to continue to dismantle the right. "The government's fiscal overruns continue. Philippe's involvement has helped to discuss issues such as debt," one close to the president noted.

Inspired by Chirac

In fact, having its own political party aims to nominate candidates for parliamentary elections, and strives to form parliamentary groups in the National Assembly, and to unite a group of powerful local parliamentarians... Doing so could lay a solid foundation for the 2027 presidential election and the ability to develop a clear campaign strategy, all directly inspired by Jacques Chirac. In 1976, Chirac resigned as prime minister and a few months later created his own party, the League for the Defense of the Republic (RPR). Two years after its founding as a right-wing party, the Union pour la république du république (IRA) became the second largest group in the National Assembly in 1978. These are the forces that give Philip the momentum to wait for the 2027 presidential election. By then, there will be no more Macron in the French political power struggle.

(Editor: Autumn Fox)