the essential
Outdistanced by the RN and the NFP, will the outgoing MP Monique Iborra be a candidate next Sunday? Nothing is less certain. Analysis.
In the sixth district, it was Colomiers who ultimately was the arbiter of the three-way fight that could have been anticipated. While the second municipality of Haute-Garonne had placed the National Rally (RN) of Jordan Bardella in the lead in the European elections on June 9, it was she who offered the first step of the final podium to the candidate of the New popular front (NFP).
Indeed, until the Columérin count, Nadine Demange-Fierlej (RN) was at the head of the overall vote, but the overwhelming victory of Arnaud Simion (NFP) in his city (41.47%) completely reshuffled the cards, placing the socialist at the top of the sixth, far ahead of outgoing MP Monique Iborra (Together – 29.60%) and the RN candidate (30.92%).
What will Monique Iborra do?
Next Sunday, there will only be three ballots left to choose for voters in the constituency, unless… Distanced by the RN candidate by 1,113 votes, Monique Iborra finds herself with her back to the wall and facing a dilemma. When contacted, she did not respond to our requests as we closed this edition. She, who has been elected continuously since 2007, first under the socialist banner, then under the Macronist flag since 2017, could be tempted not to withdraw in order to try to keep her position. Asked about this last week, the president of the Occitanie region, Carole Delga, did not mince her words on the subject. “We will see if she chooses pride or that of the Republic.”
Conversely, in the event that the 79-year-old political figure decided to step aside, leaving the final fight to Arnaud Simion and Nadine Demange-Fierlej, it is not certain that his 25,256 voters from the first round would be swayed towards one of the two remaining candidates. In any case, this is the watchword that Vincent Terrail-Novès, president of Renaissance in Haute-Garonne, was putting across. “These stories of instructions are old political concoction: the voters are quite old […] My instruction would be, ‘we trust you to make the right choice’. I will always continue to fight both extremes.” The suspense is therefore complete. Candidates have until Tuesday, July 2, to submit their candidacies for the second round.
