Right-wing candidate Pecresse vows to make France 'EU's top power'
In her first major campaign speech, the French conservative party's pick for the 2022 presidential election touched on issues related to immigration, security, the labor law, and retirement age.
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French center-right presidential candidate Valerie Pecresse
The French conservative party's candidate for the 2022 presidential election promised Saturday to stop "uncontrolled immigration" in her first major campaign speech.
Valerie Pecresse, the President of the Regional Council of Ile-de-France, was elected The Republicans' first female presidential candidate on December 4 to challenge President Emmanuel Macron in the upcoming presidential elections in April 2022.
The candidate criticized Macron's record, saying she aims to "renew France in five years and make it Europe's foremost power in 10 years' time," and pledged to be a "war leader" whenever her country is "threatened."
L’immobilisme d’Emmanuel Macron, où le tout "en même temps" se paye par le « quoi qu’il en coute », cet immobilisme, c’est le déclin. Emmanuel Macron a si peu réformé et tant dépensé. #Pecresse2022 pic.twitter.com/ZcHrwzBO5N
— Valérie Pécresse (@vpecresse) December 11, 2021
Pecresse also asserted she would be stopping "uncontrolled immigration, break the ghettoes, and restore security" in France.
The 54-year-old candidate also voiced a tough stance against "statue topplers" and the "public prosecutors of our past." Pecresse's words came in light of the latest wave of BLM-inspired racial justice demonstrations in France, which saw protestors taking to the streets all across the country to denounce racial inequality and injustice and targeting memorials linked to France's history of colonialism in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Pecresse did not hold back against the far-right presidential candidates, namely Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour, as she referred in her speech to "extremism that feeds off our problems without wanting or being able to resolve them."
"A few weeks ago, they said we were buried, divided, lost. But we're back, in battle order, for victory," she added, asserting that her "program is radical because the situation demands it."
Pecresse also said she would be loosening French labor laws, raising the retirement age to 65, and easing inheritance tax.
