the essential
The prefectural decree establishing the official list of candidates was published in the collection of administrative acts last night. Who goes there ? How are the others positioned? Can there be only one tour in Ariège? We tell you everything.
Who are the candidates in the two constituencies?
In total, 9 candidates are running for these early legislative elections. Four in the 1st district and 5 in the 2nd district.
In the first, which includes the south of the department, we first find the outgoing MP, Martine Froger (replacing Jean-Pierre Sicre), this time invested by the Socialist Party, under the label “socialist of Ariège”. Facing her, two far-right candidates. Jean-Marc Garnier for the National Rally (alternate Fabienne Clanet) and Pascal Mascetti for Reconquest (alternate Gertrude Narassiguin), the party of Eric Zemmour. Finally, Gisèle Lapeyre runs for Lutte Ouvrière (replacing Daniel Junca).
In the second constituency, in the north of the department, the outgoing deputy Laurent Panifous returns to the campaign, also invested by the PS and under the banner “socialist of Ariège” (alternate Audrey Amiel-Abadie). For the RN, it is Michèle Alozy who presents himself (replacing Stephan Andre) and, for Reconquête, it is Alexandra Tarrieux Antranikian who was chosen (alternate Patricia Feuillot). Here again, Lutte Ouvrière presents a candidate: as in 2022, it is Théodora Testard (alternating Guilhem Isierte). Finally, Yann De Kerimel de Kerveno (deputizing Robert Claravo) completes the list under a “miscellaneous right” label.
Do the outgoing deputies take the New Popular Front label?
You will not see the label New Popular Front of the left on the propaganda of the two outgoing deputies, although invested by the PS and therefore by the coalition of the main parties of the Republican left. “The governing bodies of LFI are my red line,” explains Martine Froger. The candidate nevertheless assures: “I agree with the program and the voters who vote for me will vote for the program.” Concerning her place in the hemicycle if she is elected, Martine Froger evades: “First I have to be, then we will see.”
For his part, Laurent Panifous has repeatedly confirmed his refusal to wear the label. Regarding the joint program, he declares: “I read it carefully. Overall, it is a program which has interesting parts and which takes up quite a few ideas from Raphaël Glucksmann. On the other hand, others stand out to me hardly achievable and some go too far.”
What is the position of the parties that are not going there?
Renaissance and the other left-wing parties which had presented themselves in the previous elections decided not to present themselves. They follow the instructions dictated by their political movement at the national level.
If Christian Lammens, spokesperson for EELV in Ariège, announced that he will support “in pain” the two outgoing deputies, in a press release published this Sunday, the Ariège parties of the New Popular Front – EELV, PCF, LFI , Generation. S, NPA and PS – say they “deplore the unilateral position taken by the candidates and the Ariège PS because they do not agree with the desire of the popular forces to create a real dynamic of union” and do not give any voting instructions. The former MP, Michel Larive, who ran for LFI in the 2nd constituency in 2022, calls for “to block the far right by voting for a left-wing candidate”.
The Renaissance elected officials “call on voters to rally behind candidates who, like us, have republican values”.
Will there be a second round in Ariège?
Observers of Ariège life are asking themselves the question: will there be a second round in Ariège given the few candidates? To do this, the candidates who come first in the two constituencies would have to be elected with more than 50% of the votes and the number of voters who voted for them should represent more than 1/4 of the number registered on the electoral lists. Everything therefore depends on their ability to gather during the next two weeks and, of course, on the abstention rate.
