Known for Islamophobic and Anti-Immigrants Rhetoric: Valerie Pécresse Elected as Republican's French Presidential Candidate

“I feel the anger of people who feel impotent in the face of violence and the rise of Islamist separatism, who feel their values and lifestyle are threatened by uncontrolled immigration,” Valerie Pécresse said in her victory speech.

Valerie Pécresse, adopting Islamophobic rhetoric and calling for tougher actions against immigrants, has become the candidate of the right-wing Republicans in France's presidential election, scheduled for April 2022.

On Saturday 4 December, Valerie Pécresse, president of the Île-de-France region, won the second round of the Republican primary elections, becoming the party's official candidate in the French presidential race, with a score of 60.95%.

Valerie Pécresse is the first-ever female candidate of the male-dominated Republican party. With her 20 years of experience in Politics, she is the new hope for the Right, the party of Charles de Gaulle, Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.

Pécresse was facing a confrontation in the second round with the representative of the Alps-Maritime region, Éric Ciotti, who came second during the first round of these primaries with 39.05%.

Early Life

Valerie Pécresse was born on July 14, 1967, in Neuilly-sur-Seine with Valerie Roux as name. Her father, Dominique Roux, was a professor at Paris-Dauphine University, before being appointed president of Bolloré Telecom. Pécresse had an outstanding academic background.

She graduated from high school at sixteen years old. Then, she joined the preparatory classes which enabled her to join HEC Paris. Graduating in 1988, she passed the entrance exam to one of the most prestigious schools: the National School of Administration (ENA). Afterwards, in the Condorcet class (1990–1992), she then began her career as a professor of constitutional law at the IEP in Paris.

Seasoned Politician

Valerie Pécresse began her professional career in 1992 as an auditor at the Council of State. She performed this function for four years. She then moved closer to the political world by becoming an advisor in charge of studies, foresight, and information technologies for the Presidency of the Republic.

Valerie Pécresse in her turn embarked on the electoral arena and won her first mandate as Member of Parliament for Yvelines in 2002. A member of the UMP, she took on the responsibility of spokesperson with Luc Chatel.

However, she had to wait until 2007 to obtain her first ministerial post by being appointed Minister of Higher Education and Research (2007–2011). In 2011, Valerie Pécresse became Minister of the Budget, Public Accounts, and State Reform (2011–2012). On December 18, 2015, she was elected President of the Île-de-France Regional Council. She left her mandate as deputy the following month.

Pécresse is widely popular with Republican supporters, but she was forced to apply for an affiliation card to be able to participate in the Party's conference after withdrawing from it after the European elections in 2019.

Islamophobic & Anti-Immigrants

Reuters reported that “Pécresse campaigned on promises to halve the number of residence permits for non-EU migrants, stiffen judicial sentences in tough neighborhoods where police are under pressure, and ban women accompanying their children on school trips from wearing a Muslim headscarf.”

Under the slogans “restoring France’s pride and protecting the French” and “bring back authority” to the nation, she intends to crackdown on immigration and on Muslim minorities adopting different values and lifestyles.

From its part, The Guardian newspaper emphasized that Valerie Pécresse was chosen as presidential candidate after using right-wing slogans, such as “restoring France’s pride and protecting the French.”

“She wants to ‘bring back authority’ to the nation. She has promised to toughen justice and policing, a crackdown on immigration, and shrink the public sector," according to the newspaper.

The Guardian added: “Pécresse had been traditionally considered on the moderate side of the center-right, but in the Île-de-France Paris region that she runs, which includes the high-rise suburbs around the capital, she has always promised a hard line on ‘law and order.’”

The newspaper continued: “Valerie banned Muslim full-body swimming clothes ‘burkinis’ from outdoor leisure areas, and before France introduced same-sex marriage in 2013, during a tense political period of street protests by conservatives, she said she preferred a form of civil union instead of full marriage rights. She later changed her stance and said she would not go back on same-sex marriage.”

In her political campaign, Pécresse proposed increasing the weekly working hours from 35 to 39 for companies and reducing pension provisions to enable salary increases.

Pécresse also suggested deporting foreigners who pose a threat to public security, especially those who adopt an extremist Islamist discourse. She also wants to tighten the conditions for family reunification.

France’s Future President?

In her aspiration to be the first female president of France, Valerie Pécresse described herself as "One-third Thatcher, two-thirds Merkel." While The Washington Post commented on this comparison saying, “this is very different to what a genuine Merkel or Thatcher moment might look like in France, in terms of rolling back the state or endorsing tough reform medicine. It looks more like trying to win back what’s been lost—while cutting spending and taxes.”

Valerie Pécresse won the Republican nomination. Yet, according to the latest Harris Interactive poll for Challenges dated November 29, 2021, Valerie Pécresse was credited with 11% of voting intentions, when Xavier Bertrand, the most likely to wear the colors of the Right, according to the survey of the polling institute, could boast of having three points more than the nominated candidate.