Two days before the first round, the Macron camp divided between “neither-nor” and the Republican barrier

POLICY – ” You elected me to block the far right. This vote obliges me » This declaration from Emmanuel Macron, on the evening of his re-election on April 24, 2022, comes back to him like a boomerang two days before the first round of the legislative elections. While the National Rally is in the lead in voting intentions, the presidential camp is hesitant about what action to take in the event of a duel between the New Popular Front and the far-right party in the second round.

This Friday, June 28, the reminder came from someone close to Emmanuel Macron, Philippe Grangeon, co-founder of En Marche and former advisor to the President of the Republic. “Let us keep in mind that on two occasions, in 2017 and in 2022, all Republican political forces called to vote in favor of Emmanuel Macron or to block Marine Le Pen”writes the man, usually withdrawn from political life, in a column in L’Express.

Pour “avoid the worst”he calls on his camp to give a “clear instructions”, “no haggling” facing the“main opponent” what is the extreme right. “I want to alert my political family against the perilous temptation of ‘neither-nor’” applied to the RN and LFI and which could “in the current dynamic, promote the accession of the National Rally to power”underlines this historic Macronist.

Macronie in a hurry to choose quickly (and well)

Philippe Grangeon thus joins the list of those who, within the presidential camp, openly call for blocking the RN. June 25 in The world, Former ministers Clément Beaune, Barbara Pompili, Joël Giraud, MEP Bernard Guetta and Minister Delegate for Agriculture Agnès Pannier-Runacher have co-signed a platform calling for the candidates to withdraw. “the least well placed” in the event of a triangular situation likely to turn to the advantage of the RN.

“To accelerate citizen mobilization against the RN, this choice should be clearly displayed now, without waiting until June 30, by the leaders of all democratic forces, whether they belong to the New Popular Front, the outgoing majority or the Republican right,” they pleaded.

No effect so far. It is difficult for the leaders of the majority to call for support (or even to withdraw) from a rebellious candidate, after months spent presenting the movement of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and “those who follow them” as dangerous as the extreme right. Not to mention the debates on the famous “republican arch”, concept that the executive couple has always been hard-pressed to define.

This is also the same expression that Emmanuel Macron used on Thursday evening, June 27, on the sidelines of a European summit in Brussels, in a statement that seemed to qualify the strategy. “extreme” previously assumed. “I had the opportunity to say that on the far left people had made comments about anti-Semitism or violence, about anti-parliamentarianism that I disapproved of, which went beyond the republican arc, but I am not making a general confusion,” he assured.

Too late ? At least one member of the majority has already made up his mind. “We will neither vote for a National Rally candidate nor for an LFI candidate”, explained François Bayrou, the boss of MoDem on France 5 on June 26. A position in accordance with the slogan which seemed to emerge from a meeting the day before between the Head of State and the executives of his majority. One participant, however, assured that the president had not ” slice. “

“Before time, it’s not time”

At Horizons, the other allied party, there is no opinion for the moment. On France Inter on June 26, its boss Édouard Philippe explained that he will give his voting instructions ” When the time comes “ but that at this stage it is « bat » to avoid LFI/RN duels in “as many constituencies as possible”.

The same day, his distant successor at Matignon also swept away: “There has not yet been a first round so, by definition, there is no doctrine,” declared Gabriel Attal, on the sidelines of a trip to Parçay-Meslay (Indre-et-Loire). “My grandmother used to tell me, ‘before the hour is not the hour’. After the hour is no longer the hour, it’s true, but so we’ll see Sunday evening and Monday morning.”Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin repeated on - this Friday, June 28.

On the left, where clear instructions for blockades have been given, the position of the presidential camp is ulcerating. MEP Raphaël Glucksmann denounced “a first round strategy to try to limit the damage” Sunday by weakening the left but which turns out “extremely dangerous for the future” : “With all this propaganda, there is a fundamental risk which is the inability to block the RN in a few days”he feared Thursday, during a trip to Yvelines.

From Brussels, Emmanuel Macron promised “great clarity” in the voting instructions for the second round. But without saying when they would have passed. And with the risk, in the event of a victory for the RN, of taking this quote from Sartre head-on: “Not choosing is still choosing”.

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