French President Emmanuel Macron denounced on Thursday night the “arrogance” of the National Rally, which, according to him, has “already distributed” all the government posts even before the legislative elections. The first round takes place on Sunday.
The leaders of the far-right party affirm that in the event of victory and access to government, it will be up to them to appoint the future European commissioner representing France and that the president will only be an “honorary” army chief.
“I will not make any comment on all this,” replied the Head of State to the press on the night of Thursday to Friday after a European summit, referring to the declarations of members of his government who criticized a distortion of the constitution.
“But what arrogance,” he said about the RN. “All the positions are already distributed. They are already in place […] Now, we should no longer go to vote,” he added.
While an outgoing RN deputy estimated that a member of the government could not be binational and particularly targeted the former Minister of Education Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Emmanuel Macron also got carried away. “It is a dissolution of minds and consciences”, “a profound betrayal of what France is”.
“Uninhibited speech”
He denounced “the uninhibited speech of recent days, racism or uninhibited anti-Semitism”. “France was built by great figures. I recall that among the first elected representatives of the Republic, there were non-French people who made our Republic,” he added, while the president of the RN Jordan Bardella said he wanted to ban certain jobs that were “extremely sensitive” to French with dual nationality.
“We must fight with force and we must be outraged by these things,” he added, defending “Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, all the ministers and all the parliamentarians, but all the women and men who, in our country, are French and have another nationality” because of “their family history”, “the history of their life”, “exile”, “the choices of love or professional life”.
Asked whether he would give instructions for the second round in the event of a duel between candidates from the far right and the left-wing New Popular Front coalition, he replied: “I have asked that political leaders express themselves with the greatest clarity. And they will do so.”
While he may have given the impression in recent times of putting on an equal footing what he called the “two extremes”, the RN and La France Insoumise “and those who follow them”, Emmanuel Macron seemed to qualify this position in Brussels.
“I had the opportunity to say that on the far left people had made comments on anti-Semitism or violence, on anti-parliamentarism that I disapproved of, which went beyond the republican arc, but I do not “Don’t create general confusion with all the other political groups,” he concluded.
Legislative elections in France: what you need to know
On the evening of the European elections, Emmanuel Macron decided to dissolve the National Assembly. Since then, three blocs have been competing to win these early legislative elections.
25.06.2024
ATS
