He had to wait for the night to bring counsel and a morning of discussions with his supporters for Laurent Bonnaterre, the Horizons candidate for the 4th constituency of Seine-Maritime, to make his decision. Qualified for the second round of the legislative elections in 3rd position with 24.71% of the votes, the mayor of Caubec-lès-Elbeuf finally chose to withdraw in order to block the candidate of the National Rally, Guillaume Pennelle who came out on top in the poll with 39.08% of the votes ahead of the outgoing LFI MP Alma Dufour (32.65%), candidate under the banner of the New Popular Front.
“What led me to this decision was first of all the fact that we could not win next Sunday. Even if in many municipalities we are doing well, sometimes exceeding 30%, we had to face the facts and take our responsibilities”, assures Laurent Bonnaterre who spoke with Edouard Philippe, the leader of his party who yesterday evening nevertheless considered “that no vote should be cast for the candidates of the RN, nor for those of France Insoumise”.
“The voters will not be fooled”
“I spoke twice with Edouard Philippe who trusted me and assured me that my decision would be the right one,” continues the former socialist who does not want to bring himself to put an equal sign between RN and LFI. “My voters, some of whom will be disappointed, are obviously free to make their choice and my withdrawal is in no way a guarantee of success for Alma Dufour,” he nevertheless warns, hoping that in the future the latter will be “more on the side of appeasement and civil peace than of tension and radicalization.” He also points out in passing those who insulted him online in the morning “by calling me a collaborator if I stayed”, even before his decision was made public. And in the end he is happy about at least one thing: “If, as the young people say, the announcement of my withdrawal has put the RN candidate “seum”, well so much the better!”
And obviously this is the case, since even if Guillaume Pennelle says that he felt since last night “that Laurent Bonnaterre was going to break with the strategy of neither, nor that his own camp encouraged”, it is certain that “he would have preferred not to be able to maintain oneself so as not to have to position oneself. For me, it’s political nonsense. It makes no sense for a Horizons candidate to find points in common with LFI. The voters will not be fooled.”
For the left-wing candidate, the news was obviously greeted with a certain relief, even if she assures that she never doubted it. “I know the man and I know that his values are not compatible with the RN. We have our differences, we sometimes clash, but we respect each other.” Alma Dufour hopes, now that things are clear for the second round, that voters will “look at the programs to make their choice and will not be satisfied with the fears that are propagated around the alliance of the left and the figure of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has become the scarecrow brandished by Jordan Bardella’s supporters for lack of a real project for the French.”
