(Paris) A week after President Emmanuel Macron’s shock decision to dissolve the National Assembly, France will officially enter the campaign on Monday for early legislative elections, on the basis of a now final list of candidates and alliances forged haste.
Taken by surprise last Sunday, the parties had until 6 p.m. (4 p.m. GMT) this Sunday to nominate their candidates in the 577 constituencies.
The vote, of which the National Rally (far right) is the favorite after its score of 31.4% in the European elections, is scheduled for June 30 and July 7.
On Sunday evening, the captain of the French football team Kylian Mbappé declared that he was “against extremes, ideas that divide”. Without taking an open position, he called on young people to vote.
“We see that the extremes are at the gates of power, we have the opportunity to choose the future of our country,” enjoined the Blues striker.
After a week of confusion, the list of candidates should allow voters to see clearly on the right, and to know in particular who among the Republicans (LR, right) are joining the presidential majority or the RN.
The leader of the RN Jordan Bardella, 28, considered too young and “inexperienced” for the post of prime minister by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, announced that there would be “a common candidate” with the right “in 70 constituencies”.
He also confirmed on Sunday his desire to “ultimately” privatize public broadcasting in the event of victory.
Marie-Caroline Le Pen, sister of the leader of the RN deputies Marine Le Pen, announced her candidacy on Sunday.
This coalition, which managed to agree on a common program despite fundamental differences, received the support on Sunday of former socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin (1997-2002). It is the only “dyke” capable of containing the RN, he said.
This alliance still has to convince that it can withstand the heterogeneity of its components and the crises already threatening its unity.
The leader of France Insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon, unsuccessful candidate three times in the presidential election and a repulsive figure for certain voters, even on the left, gave assurances on Sunday by appearing to withdraw.
“If you think I shouldn’t be prime minister, I won’t be,” he said.
The left-wing coalition was shaken by LFI’s desire to appoint someone close to Mr. Mélenchon, the outgoing deputy Adrien Quatennens, despite a conviction in 2022 for domestic violence. Under pressure, Mr. Quatennens finally gave up his candidacy on Sunday.
In Emmanuel Macron’s camp, stunned by dissolution and weakened in the polls after his score of only 13.8% in the European elections, the time has come for remobilization.
On purchasing power, the first issue highlighted by the French, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal promised measures on Saturday in the event of victory: a 15% reduction in electricity bills “as of next winter” or an increase in the amount of the tax-free bonus known as “Macron”, which companies can pay to their employees.
The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, on the other hand, rejected the increase in the monthly minimum wage to 1,600 euros net proposed by the left and which, according to him, would cause “mass unemployment”.
On the LR side, after a chaotic week marked by the solitary choice of its president Eric Ciotti to ally with the RN, the party is trying as best it can to maintain a line independent of the executive as well as the far right.
In Nice, the LR nominated a candidate against Eric Ciotti.
According to an Elabe poll for the BFMTV channel and the daily La Tribune on Sunday, one in three French people want a victory for the RN, one in four for the left alliance and one in five for Renaissance.
