Dozens of demonstrations are planned in France, Saturday, April 16, with the watchword: “Against the far right and its ideas, no Marine Le Pen at the Elysée. » In the press release signed by various organizations and unions, there is however no question of a “republican front”, nor of an explicit call to vote for Emmanuel Macron.
At the same time, the outgoing president will gather his troops for a meeting in the gardens of the Pharo, in Marseille. A stone’s throw from the “anti-Le Pen” demonstration to be held in the Old Port. The urgency for Emmanuel Macron is not so much to mobilize his voters as to convince those of the defeated candidates in the first round to vote for him. Because, twenty years almost to the day after April 21, 2002 and the surprise qualification of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election against Jacques Chirac, the “republican front” is no longer what it was. Emmanuel Macron himself deplored it, Monday April 11, on the move to Denain (North). An observation shared by many elected officials from all sides, everywhere in France.
“The Republican front is dead”, says the new boss of the federation Les Républicains (LR) of Bouches-du-Rhône. Stéphane Le Rudulier defends a position of «Ni-ni» for the second round, while leaving elected officials and activists “free of their choice”. “We can no longer give in to intellectual weakness to say that we must vote against the National Rally |RN] because he is far rightexplains Mr. Le Rudulier. We must fight it on the level of ideas. » He himself will vote blank on Sunday April 24. “I fought Emmanuel Macron’s policy throughout his term, I can’t see myself falling into his arms now when he is planning a deadly savings project on the backs of the municipalities”, justifies the former mayor of the small town of Rognac.
“Five years of ultra-liberalism or fascism”
On the left, the same wavering is perceptible. Candidate for a citizens’ movement in the legislative election, in June, of the 4e constituency of Marseille – that of Jean-Luc Mélenchon – sociologist Kevin Vacher bears witness to this. “Monday, April 11, he says, I was holding a campaign meeting in an apartment. Out of fifteen people, all said they were going to abstain in the second round. » Everywhere in France, the same reluctance is expressed. For Antoine Maurice, leader of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV) on the Toulouse city council, “the beavers will block, but they are tired”, to use the metaphor of Eric Piolle, the EELV mayor of Grenoble. Mr. Maurice, who consulted his troops, said to himself ” share “. “Compared to 2017, we feel that people are tired. Either they play it down, or they don’t believe in a Le Pen victory.”, he summarizes. As a result, uncertainty reigns.
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