Nicolas Sarkozy has sought to get his centre-right UMP party a facelift by rebranding it ‘Les Republicains’ two years before the French presidential elections.
The name change, inspired by the US Republican party, was adopted in a vote by more than 83 per cent of UMP members ahead of a party congress on Saturday. It is the latest step in the former president’s plan to come back to power.
The move underlines Mr Sarkozy’s willingness to move on from three years of infighting, accounting scandals and poor management that have mired the rightwing party since his defeat to socialist leader François Hollande in 2012.
The makeover aims to capitalise on the party’s sweeping victory in local elections in March, ahead of regional elections in December. It also consolidates Mr Sarkozy’s position as party boss, making it more difficult for rival presidential hopefuls including Alain Juppé, former prime minister, and Bruno Le Maire, a former agricultural minister, to challenge the former president in party primaries, which will be held next year.
Being head of the party gives him an advantage, especially in a party that, more than any others in France values strong leadership, an executive and supporter of Mr Juppé said.
After a two-year pause from politics, Mr Sarkozy made a comeback last year, saying he had changed and vowing to rescue his camp from disarray. He seized the reins of the party in November and led it to victory in local elections in March after uniting with the centre UDI party.
On Saturday, in front of 20,000 sympathisers packed in a warehouse in northern Paris, he again demonstrated his ability to unify the rightwing party.
Why do we have to trust each other? Because we don’t have a choice, because France cannot be caught between the terrifying family feud displayed by the Le Pens, and the terrifying mediocrity of the current president, he said, as the audience cheered and started chanting Nicolas, Nicolas.
Mr Sarkozy‘s conquest is by no means an easy task, however. The former president is entangled in several legal probes, including one related to alleged corruption of a judge, in which he is under formal investigation – one step short of being charged
He also remains a divisive political leader. Nearly three-quarters of the French do not want him to be a candidate in the presidential elections, according to a survey released in newspaper Le Parisien on Saturday.
Mr Sarkozy’s popularity has also eroded within his own camp. An Odoxa opinion poll last week showed for the first time that Mr Juppé would largely beat him in the party primaries thanks to UDI sympathisers, who will be allowed to vote. More important, perhaps, Mr Juppé would stand a better chance of beating far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the first round of the presidential elections, while Mr Sarkozy would come second. Incumbent president Mr Hollande would rank third in each case, according to the survey.