MADRID, Dec. 11 (.) –
The French conservative Republican party has elected Éric Ciotti, one of the most radical elements of the party, as its new leader in a second round in a new effort to try to recover from its catastrophic result in the presidential elections, where its candidate, Valérie Pécresse , got 4.7 percent of the vote.
Ciotti, deputy for the southeastern region of the Alpes-Maritimes, has called for strong measures against immigration and has criticized Islamic ideologies, even bringing his politics closer to far-right parties such as the National Group, led by Marine Le Pen.
The outcome of the Republicans’ vote is important to French President Emmanuel Macron because his government lacks an absolute majority in the National Assembly, making it dependent on opposition support.
Ciotti, known as “Monsieur Seguridad” has defeated with almost 54 percent of the votes the liberal-conservative senator Bruno Retailleau, who won 46.3 percent of the ballots in the second round, marked by 69, 75 percent participation (compared to 72 percent in the first round), collects ‘Le Figaro’.
