French interior minister eyes presidency to block Marine Le Pen win

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
14 Aug 2023 18:32

The young minister says it is important that a capable candidate is found for the position or else Marine Le Pen will win the presidential elections.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin delivering a speech on the state of terrorism threat at the French General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) in Paris, France, August 31, 2020 (AP)

France's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin seems to have his eyes locked on running for the 2027 presidential elections, citing fears of risks that Marine Le Pen might win office if the wrong candidate was presented.

The 40-year-old right-wing politician, who is known to be influenced by his mentor former right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy, and was the youngest ever minister to hold his current position, announced he plans to participate in the presidential race.

"What interests me is no longer to look at what happened in 2017 and 2022. What worries me now is what will happen in 2027," he told the Le Figaro newspaper on Sunday.

Darmanin warned against "putting our future" in the hands of technocrats and "using words that the French do not always understand".

"We must speak from the heart, not with statistics," he added, adding that if the wrong candidate is brought in, then "Marine Le Pen will be elected."

The minister in President Emmanuel Macron's government has responded during his term to a number of challenges since being assigned in 2020, including confronting the UK on its migration policy, unwavering support to the police in its internal practices, and most recently its brutality against the nationwide protests that erupted after law enforcement killed Algerian-Morccon teenager Nahel Merzouk at point blank.

Darmanin's first rally will take place on August 27 at Tourcoing in northeast France, during which he will announce his political agenda,

"After six years in government, I am happy to answer the call of my friends who urge me to make a little more clear the popular compass that I am proposing," he said of the Tourcoing rally.

But the interior minister is not the only member of Macron's cabinet who has shown interest in joining the election run.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, the longest-standing member of Macron's cabinet, is also making increased hints that he desires to see himself as the successor to the Elysee. However, it is not yet clear which candidate Macron favors.

Darmanin has made a rapid rise to the political science but faced some blunders after a woman filed a lawsuit in 2017 claiming that the young politician raped her in 2009. The minister denied wrongdoing.

While the case was dismissed in 2022 by a court in Paris, the plaintiff filed an appeal to challenge the verdict.