Sarkozy maneuvering to get right to support Marine Le Pen in the presidential

O former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in maneuvers for his traditional right-wing party, The Republicans, supporting Marine Le Pen, the right-wing candidate who gives as a certain presidential winner, today reported the weekly Le Canard Enchaîné.

According to the satirical newspaper, Sarkozy received several leaders from The Republicans, including the president of the formation and candidate for the presidential elections of April and May 2027 in France, Bruno Retailleau, to suggest an alliance with the National Union extreme right party (RN, in French).

His argument is that Le Pen will win the ballot and that, in the face of this scenario, it is best to make an alliance of all right-wing forces to balance the project of the RN.

A suggestion that Retailleau, despite not being able to climb the polls, does not seem willing to accept.

In statements to the television station CNews, the presidential candidate of The Republicans and former Home Minister today pushed away any approach to Le Pen, for considering that “her project is not good for France”.

While recognizing the existence of convergence points in matters such as security and immigration, Retailleau maintained that the French far-right programme is based on “fomenting subsidies” that will eventually “bring the country to ruin”, an idea that shocks its own liberal project.

Sarkozy's message, however, seems to have had an effect with other figures on the right, such as the mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, a dissident candidate for the presidency of France that appears a little below Retailleau in the polls.

According to Le Canard Enchainé, Lisnard will be willing to approach the far right, in a plan engendered by Sarkozy and the far-right tycoon Vincent Bolloré.

Marine Le Pen has been sending messages to the traditional French right to join her project for the head of the French state.

Last Sunday, at the rally where he launched his campaign in Orléans, he said that if he arrives at Elisha's Palace, he will appoint a government of national unity under his right hand, Jordan Bardella.

The weekly notes that one of the motivations behind Nicolas Sarkozy's support for Le Pen is the possibility of obtaining amnesty from the far-right leader if he gains the presidency.

Sarkozy will know on November 30 the second instance sentence in the case of illegal funding of his 2007 presidential campaign with money from the Libyan regime of Muammar Gadhafi, for which, at first instance, he was sentenced to five years in prison, which led him to spend three weeks behind bars, an experience no French former president had known before.

The prosecutor asks for the increase of the sentence imposed at first instance, for seven years in prison.

This would be Sarkozy's second conviction of effective imprisonment, adding up to the penalty of a year for trafficking in influences and corruption, and to the six months imposed by the illicit financing of his 2012 campaign.