On the front page of the Italian newspaper The poster, Emmanuel Macron stands straight, his gaze fixed on the horizon, almost at attention. The title that accompanies it, “Come, See, Vichy”, takes up the Latin maxim attributed to the Roman Julius Caesar. But here the “vici” is replaced by “Vichy”, a reference to the collaborationist regime of Marshal Pétain.
“In governing, Macron has opened the door to the right, and by calling early elections he has opened it wide. Now, he remains vague on the withdrawals in favor of the New Popular Front, and many Macronists are turning their backs on him. The left is ‘blocking’ with its candidates, but the second round risks returning France to its dark past,” explains the communist daily.
The extreme right, heir to the Vichyites, is closer than ever to taking power in the country. The poster denounces the hesitations of the Macronist camp to call for support for the candidates of the New Popular Front in the constituencies where they are in a better position to win against the National Rally.
Macronists hesitant
While the left-wing parties have withdrawn almost all of their candidates who came in third place in the constituencies where a three-way race was looming, in the presidential camp, a good number of them are reluctant to do so. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, like the former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, refuse to support candidates from the ranks of La France Insoumise.
However, on the morning of Tuesday, July 2, 70 Ensemble candidates had already withdrawn in favor of NFP candidates.
“But will voters on both sides follow the instructions given by their parties? wonders The poster. Nothing is less certain: the ‘sanitary cordon’ made possible by the constitution of a ‘republican front’ has broken down and no longer fulfills its role.”
