The National Rally is well ahead in the first round of the legislative elections this Sunday according to estimates from our partner Ipsos-Talanthe second round promises to be decisive and three-way races are on the horizon. In this context, what are the voting instructions given by each camp? France Bleu takes stock.
Gabriel Attal’s call for withdrawal
“Not a single vote should go to the National Rally” said the Prime Minister, candidate in Hauts-de-Seine, Gabriel Attal from Matignon. “The challenge is to deprive the extreme right of an absolute majority” he said, calling for the withdrawal of the Ensemble candidates in “more than sixty” constituencies. A call was made to candidates whose “remaining in 3rd position would have resulted in the election of a National Rally deputy over another candidate who, like us, defends the values of the Republic.”
“A broad democratic and republican gathering”, for Emmanuel Macron
“Faced with the National Rally, the time has come for a large, clearly Democratic and Republican gathering for the second round,” said the President of the Republic in a written statement this Sunday evening. He who had regularly excluded La France Insoumise from the republican field, Emmanuel Macron seems like this opt for a case-by-case approachdepending on the candidates qualified for the second round.
“Not one more voice for the RN” for Jean-Luc Mélenchon
“We will withdraw our candidacy” if the New Popular Front came third in the constituencies where the RN came first, affirmed Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “Not one vote, not one more seat for the RN” launched the leader of La France insoumise.
The same call for withdrawal in the event of a three-way fight is being made by Raphaël Glucksmann for the Socialist Party, as is the case for François Hollande in Corrèze. In his stronghold, The former president announced that he had come out on top in the first roundin front of the National Rally candidate, followed by the outgoing Republican deputy.
“No votes for the RN, nor LFI”, asks Édouard Philippe
The head of the Horizons group, Édouard Philippeestimated on Sunday evening that“no voice” should not “focus on the candidates of the National Rally, nor on those of France Insoumise”. “In line with this position, I will propose to the Horizons candidates who came third, who could, by their presence in the second round, without hope of victory, favor the election of a candidate from the extremes, to withdraw in favor of the candidates, the parties with which we share the same democratic and republican demands”.
“Victory is in sight,” rejoices Eric Ciotti
The Republicans (LR), who are said to have obtained nearly 10% of the votes in the first round according to initial estimates, stated on Sunday that “Macronism is dead”and refused to call for voting against the RN in constituencies where they are not qualified for the second round. “Where we are not present in the second round, considering that voters are free to choose, we do not give national instructions and let the French express themselves in conscience”affirmed in a press release the management of LR, which did not follow its president Éric Ciotti who sealed an alliance with the RN.
“Victory is in sight” Eric Ciotti said happily from Nice. “The Republicans must participate in the victory of the entire right” said Eric Ciotti, president of the Republicans and ally of the RN for this first round, referring to “the threat of the extreme left”.
On TF1, MEP François-Xavier Bellamy estimated for his part that “the danger facing our country today is the extreme left.” During the 2022 legislative elections, LR had already refused to give voting instructions in the second round.
