(Paris) Emmanuel Macron exposed on Wednesday his desire to win those who say “no to the extremes”, around the central bloc, launching a call for “rally” 18 days of early legislative elections described as a “battle of values”.
After his decision on Sunday to dissolve the National Assembly which surprised everyone including in his own camp, the President of the Republic justified, during a press conference, the only choice which “allows things to be clarified” .
“I do not want to give the keys to power to the far right in 2027,” said Emmanuel Macron. “The start is for now,” he added, believing that it was necessary to interrupt a process that was “taking place silently”, that of the RN’s accession to power.
He also reaffirmed that he would not resign, whatever the outcome of the vote. He added that he did not wish to debate, before these legislative elections, with Marine Le Pen, after having proposed it during the European campaign.
A few days after catastrophic results in the European elections, where the far right garnered nearly 40% of the votes, he held back his blows neither against the RN nor against La France insoumise, “two blocs”, “two extremes”, he repeated in his opening remarks.
He accused La France insoumise of “anti-Semitism” and “anti-parliamentarism,” castigating Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s movement for having “created sometimes constant” and “worrying” disorder in the National Assembly. And the RN of ambiguity towards Russia, a desire to “leave NATO” and a contradictory discourse on pensions.
“The masks are falling,” he denounced, evoking the rallying of Republican boss Éric Ciotti to the National Rally and the agreement on the left between PS, PCF, Ecologists and rebellious France, in a “popular front”.
“Crafting devices”, “unnatural alliances”, these are according to him “in no way majorities for governing”.
Mr. Macron, who announced in particular “a major debate on secularism” and the maintenance of the indexation of retirement pensions to inflation, spoke in the presence of his government and the leaders of the majority, with the exception by Édouard Philippe who on Tuesday considered it “not completely healthy” that the president was getting too involved in the campaign.
In fact, within the majority, there are many voices who would like to see the head of state who crystallizes all the criticism, withdraw from the campaign, preferring Gabriel Attal to lead the battle.
In the afternoon, the Republicans must rule on the call from their president, Éric Ciotti, to join forces with the National Rally for the legislative elections.
An exceptional executive office, followed by a press conference is organized at 3 p.m., Éric Ciotti, who intends to remain president of the party, will not attend. All LR leaders want his exclusion.
“If necessary, we will take it out of the office of General de Gaulle’s heirs,” warned LR MP Aurélien Pradié on Wednesday. Eric Ciotti “will no longer be president of the Republicans at 3 p.m. […] he will be dismissed,” said LR senator from Paris Agnès Evren on Wednesday morning on BFMTV.
In the meantime, the question is raised of the label under which the Republican right candidates who refuse any alliance with the National Rally will present themselves on Sunday. “It’s cooking,” said the head of the LR deputies Olivier Marleix on Wednesday.
Delighted with her take on the war, Marine Le Pen praised “the courageous choice” and “the sense of responsibility” of the MP for Alpes-Maritimes and hoped “that a significant number of LR executives will follow him”.
Like the president of the RN Jordan Bardella, who will become prime minister if her party wins the evening of the second round on July 7, she intends to ride on the historic victory on Sunday with 31.37% of the votes to achieve the union of the rights .
On the alliance side, there will ultimately be none between Reconquest! of Éric Zemmour and the RN, which “refuses the very principle of an agreement” so as not to be “associated” with the former far-right editorialist, lamented Marion Maréchal, also niece of Marine Le Pen.
The four main left-wing parties (LFI, PS, ecologists, PCF), as well as the Place publique movement of Raphaël Glucksmann and Générations, are calling for “single candidacies from the first round”. The outlines of a common program are currently being developed.
But the choice of a leader remains unresolved. The Mélenchon case, accused in particular of ambiguities on the question of anti-Semitism, tenses part of the left.
