Damien Abad announces, in an interview with Le Figaro, that he is leaving the presidency of the Les Républicains group in the National Assembly. “I decide today to leave my position as President of the LR group in the Assembly for the sake of clarity, consistency and responsibility,” said the deputy of Ain. “The future of the right will not be played out in a compromise with the extreme right but in a line of clarity and responsibility, corresponding to a force of government”, he adds. Finally, the elected official affirms “no longer recognizing himself in the LR approach” which makes “Emmanuel Macron the number one opponent”.
The pressure had mounted in recent days around the now ex-boss of the Republicans in the Assembly. The president of the Republicans, Christian Jacob, had asked him Thursday morning to “leave his functions” at the head of the LR group in the National Assembly. “I asked him this morning to get out of the ambiguity” and “he asked me for additional time to wait for the composition of the government”, explained in a press release Christian Jacob, assuring that LR could not “wait for the right want Mr. Macron to take it or not to take it from the government”.
“If he joins the majority, he must tell us and bear the consequences,” Christian Jacob had already urged Thursday morning on France Info. Damien Abad, according to his entourage, told the deputies of his camp on Tuesday that he would “clarify[t] his situation by Friday” in view of the legislative elections. During a meeting of the LR group, the deputies then “unanimously asked” him to “clarify his position on his commitment to the Republicans”, recalled the boss of the Republicans.
Aged 42, Damien Abad is the subject of speculation about a possible rallying to the macronie and a possible entry into the government, in particular since his meeting between the two presidential rounds with Thierry Solère, ex-LR who has become adviser to President Macron. The presidential majority has already announced that it will not present a candidate against him in the fifth constituency of Ain for the legislative elections of June 12 and 19.
