Photo: Ludovic Marin via Associated Press French President Emmanuel Macron on June 10, 2024
Gabriel Bourovitch – Agence France-Presse and Paul Aubriat – Agence France-Presse in Paris
Posted at 7:33 a.m.
- Europe
French President Emmanuel Macron has postponed his press conference intended to unveil his “orientation” for France for 24 hours. Initially scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, this high mass of questions and answers with journalists will finally be held on Wednesday at midday, the Élysée announced.
Mr. Macron will indicate “the direction he believes is right for the Nation”, just 18 days before the first round of the shortest legislative campaign in the history of the Fifth Republic.
< p>In the meantime, “the political clarification called for on Sunday by the President of the Republic is currently at work”, according to the presidency, and “the republican forces on one side, the extremist forces of the others are positioned”.
Tensions are peaking on the right and the left in France, two days after the dissolution of the National Assembly, against a backdrop of calls from the far right to build “unity” around it.
According to a Harris Interactive — Toluna poll published Monday, the National Rally (RN, far right), whose president Jordan Bardella emerged as the big winner in the European elections, is credited with 34% of intentions voting for the first round on June 30. This would allow him to obtain a relative majority during the second round on July 7, with 235 to 265 deputies.
The Macronists, with 19%, could only count on 125 to 155 seats, against 115 to 145 for the left, credited with 22% under its new unitary banner, the “Popular Front”.
Another poll on Tuesday reveals that a large majority of French people, 66%, are “satisfied” with the dissolution of the National Assembly announced in the wake of the European elections.
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Major maneuvers
On the right, the major maneuvers are underway. The RN continues to push its advantage, with its new favorite status, sowing trouble within the Republicans (LR, right). Xavier Bertrand, one of the party's figures, demanded a “clarification” from the president of his party, Éric Ciotti.
Designated leader for Matignon in the event of victory of the RN, Jordan Bardella repeated his desire to “build the largest possible majority”, with a strategy based exclusively on local arrangements, and affirmed that his movement “will support” candidates “from the Republicans”.
Already on Monday, the boss of the RN, Marine Le Pen, said she was “of course capable” of not presenting a candidate in the face of LR candidates with whom an agreement would have been found.
“If some people want to go with the RN, let them say so now,” the boss of the Hauts-de-France region (north) said on franceinfo, indicating that he would “not support a right-wing candidate who would be supported by the RN”.
Also unthinkable for the leader of the LR deputies, Olivier Marleix, another figure of the Republicans: “We will be candidates under our colors, without arrangements”.
Éric Ciotti must speak on the 1:00 p.m. news of the TF1 channel.
“Build something else”
On the left, the alliance envisaged by the main actors was roundly criticized by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, Tuesday, deeming it “revolting” that the socialists wanted to “build an agreement” with rebellious France (LFI, radial left).
The four main left-wing parties (LFI, PS, Ecologists, PCF) indeed found common ground on Monday evening and called for “single candidacies from the first round”.
Negotiations resumed on Tuesday morning to refine a common program and distribute the 577 constituencies. But the choice of a leader remains pending.
The case of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the boss of LFI, accused in particular of ambiguities on the question of anti-Semitism also upsets party leaders, like the socialist Olivier Faure, who believes that “there is no logic” in him “being the candidate” of the left to be first minister.
“He was not in the discussions” Monday evening, said communist Fabien Roussel.
The presidential camp remains in ambush: former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe has come out of his reserve to call for “building a new majority”, which according to him must “open up” to “all the political forces of the central bloc” , in particular LR.
“I will go to the end of my duty as a citizen attached to his country who will give everything to avoid the worst” and “to the end of my duty of prime minister to act in the services of the French until the last minute”, assured Gabriel Attal.
All are in any case pressed by time: applications must be submitted between Wednesday and Sunday, 6:00 p.m., while the electoral campaign will begin on Monday.