Night has already fallen on Matignon, Sunday June 30, when Gabriel Attal, with a serious expression, approaches the desk. It is almost 10 p.m., the first round of the legislative elections has just inflicted a scathing rout on the presidential camp. The scores are less bad than imagined, but there is no longer room for doubt. The Prime Minister is aware that he is living his last moments in Rue de Varenne. He who, at 35, could sometimes think of the opportunity that had been offered to him to occupy such high positions at such a young age, could give way to Marine Le Pen’s colt, Jordan Bardella, 28 years old. The National Rally (RN), well ahead of the vote, is on the verge of power, close to winning a majority of seats in the National Assembly. The left-wing alliance of the New Popular Front (NFP), bringing together the Socialist Party, the ecologists and La France insoumise (LFI) rose to second place, leaving the Renaissance-MoDem-Horizons coalition far behind.
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It is a total failure for the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who, on June 9, decided to dissolve the National Assembly in order, he said, to regain control. But it is Gabriel Attal who must find the right words to “prevent the worst from happening”. This evening “is not an evening like the others”, sighs the tenant of Matignon. The former Socialist Party candidate in 10e Hauts-de-Seine constituency, promises not to go there “by four paths”. After having fought fiercely against ” the extremes “criticizing the RN but also the « chaos » what, according to him, the NFP program represents, dominated, he says, by LFI, the head of government now makes the distinction between an enemy, the RN, and a political adversary, the NFP.
The battle of the second round is not the same as that of the first. Gabriel Attal now speaks of “moral duty” and hear “to live up to the French destiny”. “Our goal is clear, he said: prevent the National Rally from having an absolute majority in the second round, from dominating the National Assembly and therefore from governing the country with its disastrous project.” He continues, solemn: “I say it with the force that the moment calls for in each of our voters. Not a single vote should go to the National Rally. In such circumstances, France deserves no hesitation. Never. » And he calls for candidates from the Ensemble pour la République coalition to withdraw when they are in third place in three-way races, in order to avoid the election of a far-right MP.
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