(Paris) The programs of the “two extremes” are leading “to civil war”: French President Emmanuel Macron frontally attacked his rivals on Monday six days before the legislative elections, targeting in particular the leader of the far right, Jordan Bardella, who is said to be “ready” to govern.
Posted at 8:10 a.m.
Updated at 4:29 p.m.
Didier LAURAS and Delphine TOUITOU with the AFP political service
France Media Agency
In a new speech, with the podcast “Generation Do It Yourself”, the President of the Republic did not mince his words in the direction of the National Rally (RN, far right), favorite of the election, and the party of radical left La France insoumise (LFI).
“The response of the extreme right” in terms of insecurity: “because it refers people to a religion or an origin, that is why it divides and pushes to civil war “, he said. And opposite, LFI offers “a form of communitarianism”, “but that is also the civil war behind it”.
PHOTO CHRISTOPHE ENA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
“We are ready” to govern, repeated Jordan Bardella, the young president of the French far-right National Rally (RN) party during a presentation of his program, while polls credit him with 35.5 to 36%. voices.
“A President of the Republic should not say that,” replied Jordan Bardella, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of LFI, accused Emmanuel Macron of being “always there to set fires”.
The young president of the National Rally (RN) held a long press conference on Monday morning to try to reassure about his program, after a week of uncertainty during which his camp had seemed to back down on several of its flagship measures, including the repeal of the highly contested pension reform adopted in 2023.
“We are ready” to govern, he repeated, while polls credit his party with 35.5 to 36% of the vote.
The RN is “the only movement that can immediately and reasonably implement the aspirations” of the French, said the man who, at 28, aspires to become prime minister.
PHOTO GONZALO FUENTES, REUTERS
The leaders of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella
“The RN is not ready to govern,” replied Macronist Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. It is “an opposition party and not a government party,” he argued.
In his program, Jordan Bardella notably proposes “a big bang of authority” at schools from September, with a ban on cell phones in establishments and experiments with wearing uniforms.
Abroad, he repeated that he would maintain France’s support for Kyiv but would oppose sending long-range missiles and French troops to Ukraine. He also immediately ruled out recognition of a Palestinian state, saying that “this would be recognizing terrorism”.
The camp of President Emmanuel Macron, criticized from all sides for having dissolved the National Assembly, appears to be the most weakened of the three forces in the running (19.5 to 20%).
Gabriel Attal nevertheless tried to position himself as the main bulwark against the far-right party and castigated, in an interview with the daily Le Figaro, the “pincer” between LFI and the RN which “feed” on each other, pointing out the “risk of a major tear in the country, with tensions and violence as a result”.
“Marxist-inspired project”
On the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon saw the pressure build around him with the almost simultaneous call from his three allies on the left – PCF, Ecologists, Socialist Party – to favor “consensus” to nominate the candidate for the position of prime minister. minister of their New Popular Front coalition in the event of victory.
The founder of La France insoumise “is not the leader of the New Popular Front (NFP) and he will not be prime minister,” declared the boss of the Ecologists Marine Tondelier to AFP.
“The next prime minister will be Insoumis,” retorted Mr. Mélenchon on France 2, without excluding himself from the list of contenders.
“The first emergency is to avoid the RN”, not to know who will go to Matignon, insisted for his part Laurent Berger, former union official opposed to the 2023 pension reform.
The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire once again castigated the NFP program and its tax increases, affirming that “everyone (would be) robbed by this project […] of Marxist inspiration.
The outcome of the vote, between the spectre of the first far-right government in the country’s history and a National Assembly dominated by three irreconcilable poles, is worrying in France and abroad, while the war continues in Ukraine and Gaza, and one month before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
