The day after the National Rally’s breakthrough in the first round of the legislative elections, announcements are multiplying to prevent the far right from obtaining an absolute majority.
The countdown has begun. Candidates qualified for the second round have until Tuesday, July 2 at 6 p.m. to submit their candidacy to the prefecture. After the historic breakthrough of the National Rally and its allies in the first round of the legislative elections on Sunday, June 30, voices are being raised on the left and in the majority to prevent the far-right party from winning an absolute majority in the National Assembly at the end of the second round on Sunday, July 7.
More than 150 candidates have already announced that they intend to withdraw from the electoral battle, according to a count carried out by -, based on the candidates’ press releases and their public statements. This wave of withdrawals, which mainly concerns the New Popular Front and the Macronist camp, should reduce the number of three-way races, which rose to more than 300 on Sunday evening due to the high turnout in the first round (66.7%).
A vague instruction for the presidential camp
To discuss these withdrawals, Emmanuel Macron, who called on Sunday for a “large gathering clearly Democrat and Republican”summoned his ministers to the Elysée Palace on Monday at midday. According to a participant quoted by AFP, the head of state told his troops that “not a voice” should not “go to the far right”recalling that the left had mobilized against the National Rally in 2017 and then in 2022, allowing it to access the Elysée. During the day, Gabriel Attal again called on the candidates of the presidential majority who came in third place to withdraw.
More The outgoing majority is struggling to express itself with one voice and three voices coexist. Edouard Philippe and Bruno Le Maire have thus declared that they do not want to “you du RN, you de LFI”The outgoing president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, prefers to talk about “case by case”. Finally, other Macronists, such as Minister Roland Lescure, have called for the systematic withdrawal of candidates from the presidential camp who came in third place.
Despite this cacophony, several candidates from the Renaissance party have already made their choice. Three ministers, qualified for the second round in a three-way race, have decided to withdraw their candidacies: Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, Fadila Khattabi and Marie Guévenoux, facing socialist and ecologist candidates from the New Popular Front.
Several candidates have agreed to withdraw after coming in third place, behind the RN and La France Insoumise. This is the case of Albane Branlant, in the 1st constituency of the Somme, where the rebellious François Ruffin is playing for his re-election. In Sarthe, Sylvie Casenave-Péré, second in the first round behind LFI, did the same thing in the hope of preventing Marie-Caroline Le Pen, Marine Le Pen’s sister, from winning on July 7.
On the other hand, some candidates who came third intend to stay, considering either that they have more reserves of votes than the left or that their withdrawal would favor the National Rally, like Anne-Laurence Petel in Bouches-du-Rhône. Loïc Signor, in Val-de-Marne, refuses to “constrain” the electors “to choose between the RN and Louis Boyard”a candidate from La France Insoumise.
In total, at least fifty people have announced their withdrawal in view of the second round, according to a count carried out by -.
Systematic withdrawals for the New Popular Front
All the parties of the left alliance have instructed their candidates in third place to withdraw, with one difference however for La France insoumise, for whom this rule only applies to cases where the RN is in the lead. A great many candidates of the New Popular Front are following this line, with more than 90 withdrawals of candidacies according to our count, Monday evening.
Some withdrawals have been widely commented on, such as that of the rebellious candidate Noé Gauchard, who is withdrawing in the constituency of Elisabeth Borne, who came second in Calvados, behind the RN. The same situation occurred in the North, in the constituency of the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, where the rebellious candidate Leslie Mortreux finally announced her withdrawal.
In Bouches-du-Rhône, the candidate of La France insoumise invested by the New Popular Front against the outgoing deputy of the 5th constituency, Hendrik Davi, who had not invested by the movement founded by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, chose to withdraw his candidacy, after coming third.
Very rare withdrawals among the Republicans
The Republican candidates tend to choose to stay in the race. This is the case of Maxime Minot, who came third behind the New Popular Front and the RN in Oise, or Romain Lefebvre, who came third and qualified for a second round in the 2nd constituency of Allier.
The same configuration is seen in the constituency contested by François Hollande. The right-wing candidate, Francis Dubois, has chosen to remain in the race against the former President of the Republic, who has been nominated by the New Popular Front.
One of the only right-wing candidates to have announced his withdrawal is Anthony Vadot, in the 4th constituency of Saône-et-Loire, reports France 3 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
Despite the many withdrawals, which are sometimes accompanied by voting instructions given by candidates and parties, one unknown remains: will voters follow this movement?
