AFP
Legislative: Macron reminds his ministers that he was elected thanks to the left against the RN
Emmanuel Macron told his ministers on Monday that “not a single vote” should “go to the far right” in the second round of the legislative elections, reminding them that the left had mobilized against the RN in 2017 and in 2022, allowing its own accession to the Elysée, according to a participant. “We must not be mistaken. It is the far right that is on the verge of accessing the highest functions, no one else,” declared the head of state during a meeting with members of his government at midday, according to this source. “Not a single vote should go to the far right. We must remember that in 2017 and 2022, on the other side, on the left, everyone carried this message. Without that, your servant and you would not be here,” he added. The President of the Republic has not, however, given a clear instruction to withdraw from Sunday’s second round, according to several sources.ministerial. The emotion was perceptible among some ministers, three of whom withdrew to block the National Rally: Sabrina Agresti-Roubache (City and Citizenship) in Bouches-du-Rhône, Marie Guévenoux (Overseas) in Essonne and Fadila Khattabi (Disabled People) in Côte-d’Or. “Voices have broken,” summarized a ministerial source. The head of state also assured that he “would always be there to guide the country” and he deplored that “many are obsessed with 2027 more than with the moment, this is what has harmed us,” reported this source. “Any form of disunity is a guarantee of losing,” he said. Many ministers thanked Gabriel Attal for having “taken charge of the campaign, for having been able to recreate a dynamic and for having given his body and soul” in these elections, explained a ministerial source. The head of government invited the ministers to travel “everywhere we can make a difference” and “not to waste their strength when it is already lost”. “If there is a risk of the RN candidate being elected, we will withdraw”, he repeated, according to this source, who reads this remark as “case by case”. Several ministers have shown themselves to be in favour of a “neither RN nor LFI”, such as Bruno Le Maire (Economy), Aurore Bergé (Equality) Christophe Béchu (Ecology) Sarah El Haïry (Childhood), Catherine Vautrin (Labour, Health) Marie Lebec (Relations with Parliament), and Marie Guevenoux (Overseas). Conversely, Patrice Vergriete (Transport) Hervé Berville (Mer) and Fadila Khattabi have expressed their preference for an “unconditional withdrawal”. fff-are/sde/lbx
