“The situation is serious, this morning the awakening is bitter for all of us. At the end of this first round of elections, the observation is frightening: the National Rally and its allies are at the gates of power. The time has come for lucidity, reason and the mobilization of all the vital forces of our country. Faced with this serious and unprecedented situation, it is our duty to take our responsibilities. We, socialists, have always fought against the extreme right, its project and the ideas it spreads: the promotion of hatred, the encouragement of social and societal regressions, the destruction of our educational model, discrimination against women and minorities, the stigmatization of vulnerable people, the implementation of an anti-ecological program… We, socialists, have always been on the side of rallying, of uniting around common values: those of our republican motto – liberty, equality, fraternity – but also those that found our republican model – humanism, progressivism, secularism, solidarity, social justice, protection of the environment, the emancipation of minds, tolerance, living together.
Today, our priority is clear. We must preserve this social and republican pact in the face of the danger posed by the extreme right and the far right. Thus, following the responsible decision of Charlyne Bouvet – candidate of the New Popular Front – to withdraw her candidacy for the second round of the legislative elections in the 4th constituency of Maine-et-Loire, we call on all those who identify with our republican ideal and our progressive ideas to vote for Laetitia Saint-Paul, the outgoing MP. We, socialists, will never put Macronism and the extreme right on the same level because there is only one extreme in France and it must always and in all circumstances be fought.
However, this vote is not a vote of approval – approval of the majority’s record, approval of its political strategy, approval of the violence introduced into the public debate. This vote is a vote of reason and obligation. The situation obliges us. It leads us to unite behind Laëtitia Saint-Paul, the outgoing MP, but this vote must also be obliging for her. The majority cannot and must no longer ignore the values and struggles of the left. The majority cannot and must no longer place the far right and the left on the same level. The majority cannot and must no longer stubbornly pursue its political project which leads us straight into the arms of the national rally and its allies.
Together, on July 7, let us rise to the challenges that lie before us and form a new republican front and vote against the nauseating project that the extreme right wants to impose on us.”
