(Paris) French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to give clear voting instructions in the event of a duel in the second round of legislative elections between the left and the far-right National Rally (RN) party, presented as the big favorite of the election.
As the campaign ends Friday at midnight (6 p.m. Eastern time), all the polls give a very comfortable lead to the RN, credited with 36 to 37% of voting intentions and which thus largely distances the left (28 at 29%) while the outgoing majority is relegated to third place (20% to 21%).
The leader of the RN Jordan Bardella, 28, will nevertheless have to attract more voters if he wants to obtain an absolute majority in the National Assembly at the end of the second round on July 7, a condition that he himself even asked to accept the post of Prime Minister.
Thursday evening, on the sidelines of a European summit in Brussels, Emmanuel Macron promised “great clarity” in the voting instructions for the second round in the event of a duel between the RN and the left.
“I obviously want to prevent the extremes, and in particular the extreme right, from winning these elections,” said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Friday on BFMTV/RMC media.
And, while in recent weeks the executive has put the RN and La France insoumise (LFI, radical left) on an equal footing “and those who follow them” – to designate the New Popular Front (NPF), a coalition of left which also includes the Socialist Party, the Ecologists and the Communist Party – Mr. Macron seemed to qualify this position in Brussels.
“I had the opportunity to say that on the far left people had made comments on anti-Semitism or violence, on anti-parliamentarism that I disapproved of, which went beyond the republican arc, but I do not do not cause general confusion with all other political groups,” declared the head of state.
The president also denounced the “arrogance” of the RN which intends to impose harsh cohabitation on it in the event of victory, having “already distributed” all government positions.
The leading figure of the French far right Marine Le Pen recently assured that the function of “chief of the armies” of the President of the Republic was only a simple “honorary title”.
From this prerogative of head of the Armed Forces, enshrined in the Constitution, arises the powers in matters of foreign policy and defense that the presidents have retained during previous cohabitations.
On Friday, she also indicated that if Jordan Bardella were to become prime minister, he would oppose the reappointment of Thierry Breton as European commissioner, announced Thursday by Emmanuel Macron to his partners.
On Sunday, a high turnout, which could be the highest in 25 years, is expected: nearly two in three voters plan to vote, compared to less than one in two in the 2022 legislative elections.
With the predictable consequence, “certainly those elected in the first round”, predicts to AFP the deputy general director of Ipsos Brice Teinturier, even if there will also be “a lot of triangulars”, adds the pollster, who anticipates “potentially 200, even 240” constituencies in this scenario.
The question of “Republican desistance” from the far right is therefore at the heart of the issues. An option already defended within the New Popular Front, where ecologists, socialists and communists have indicated that their candidates who came in third place would withdraw.
On the left, the leading figure of the LFI party, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who remains a scarecrow for his adversaries, indicated on Thursday that he does not intend to be “wiped off the map”. Including by his allies who do not want to see him become prime minister in the event of victory.
The president of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure thus affirmed, during a final televised debate Thursday evening, that “a quiet force” will be needed at the head of the French government.
Gabriel Attal continued to dish out blows during this tense debate in which Jordan Bardella also participated.
He notably accused the president of the RN of supporting “around a hundred candidates” who had made “racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic” remarks.
From Brussels, Emmanuel Macron deplored during the night “uninhibited speech”, “racism or anti-Semitism” in the political debate. The outgoing president of the Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet deplored a party which shows its “true face”, that of “uninhibited racism”.
Abroad, these elections are being closely scrutinized, particularly in Kyiv, which fears that French support for Ukraine in the face of Russia will crumble.
Jordan Bardella assured Thursday that he would not let “Russian imperialism absorb an allied state like Ukraine.”
