2024-07-05 21:49:52
According to estimates by AFP and Le Monde, at least 200 candidates from the left-wing alliance and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition have dropped out of the race before the deadline to unite behind the remaining contenders who have the best chance of defeating Ms Le Pen’s nationalists.
Their decisions could determine the outcome of Sunday’s runoff vote and whether France will have a far-right government for the first time in the history of a modern republic.
The tactical withdrawals have divided the president’s camp since the first round, with political heavyweights refusing to toe the line after both Macron and his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, called for mass withdrawals.
France’s electoral system doesn’t usually paint such a complicated picture, but Macron’s shock decision to dissolve parliament and hold an emergency vote after he lost last month’s EU election to the far-right has thrown the country’s politics into chaos.
Voters elect lawmakers in France’s 577 National Assembly constituencies, with 289 seats needed for an absolute majority.
In the last run-off election in 2022, only a few constituencies allowed voters to choose between three or more candidates. It was almost always a runoff involving the top two candidates from the first round.
But this time there are more than 300 constituencies where at least three candidates have made it to the second round on July 7. Among them, there is usually one from the extreme right, one from the left alliance and one from Macron’s centrist bloc.
As a result, candidates and party officials have been feverishly debating behind the scenes whether they should withdraw and consolidate the votes of anti-Le Pen voters. They had until 6pm on Tuesday to decide. Many of them decided to leave.
According to Le Monde’s calculations, 130 candidates of the left-wing “New Popular Front” (out of 446 who entered the second round) and 81 candidates from E. Macron’s camp (out of 319 who entered the second round) have withdrawn from the race, according to the presidential party. Official figures are not available until the French Ministry of the Interior compiles the data.
The wave of withdrawals means there will now be fewer than 100 constituencies with three candidates in the second round.
In Sunday’s first round of voting, Ms. Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party took the lead, ahead of the Left Alliance, while Macron’s centrist coalition trailed in third place.
On Sunday night, the de facto leader of the Left Alliance, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, called on his third-placed camp to pull out of the local elections and stop the National Rally.
Prime Minister G. Attalis also sent a similar message to his camp. “Under these circumstances, France deserves that we don’t hesitate,” Mr. Attalis said on Sunday evening, urging voters in third place to leave when the candidacy could “elect the National Rally.”
Pressure and resistance
However, E. Macron’s camp hardly followed the official line. Key figures have refused to rally behind far-left candidates whose platform calls for massive public spending in an already heavily indebted country.
For some centrists, the left-wing party “France Invincible” and its leader, Mr. Mélenchon, pose the same or even greater danger than Ms. Le Pen. Macron himself has spent much of this campaign blasting the policies of the New Popular Front alliance as “grotesque” and disastrous for France.
Opponents blasted the far left, warning that their spending policies would bankrupt France. The pro-Macron camp also attacked Invincible France for its strong opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza, which has led to accusations of anti-Semitism.
Meanwhile, the far right is often accused of being unprepared to govern and incoherent on economic policy, while pushing divisive measures on immigration.
Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who is not running for re-election, said he was against voting for “France Invincible” even if he had to compete with a National Rally candidate.
Others, such as outgoing local government and rural affairs minister Dominique Faure, followed the government’s instructions but made it clear they disagreed with them. “Preserving my candidacy was the best decision for me in the fight against extremism,” Faure wrote on Tuesday, announcing her departure after intense pressure from France’s president and prime minister.
Parenthetical phrase “Politician” inf.
2024-07-05 21:49:52