President Emmanuel Macron called this Wednesday to join all those who say “not to extremes” before or after french legislative electionswhich he advanced after the victory of the far right in the European elections in France.
“Things are simple. Today we have alliances against nature at both extremes [del espectro político]who do not agree on anything,” said the centrist president at a press conference, three days after the unexpected electoral advance.
Macron referred to the proposal of the president of the conservative party The Republicans (LR), Eric Ciottiof ally with the far-right National Group (RN), a possibility that the majority of deputies and those responsible for its formation rejected.
But also to the agreement of socialists, communists, environmentalists and The Rebellious France (LFI, radical left) to create a “new popular front”after their previous alliance was broken due to disagreements between the social democratic wing and the more radical one.
“When the time comes, sooner or later [de las elecciones], I wish men and women of good will to unite that they will have been able to say no to the extremes,” declared Macron, calling his centrist alliance to talk with other parties.
Macron came to power in 2017 from the center, attracting those dissatisfied with the traditional alternation between socialists and conservatives, and already when his re-election in 2022 was presented as the alternative to the “extremes”.
In the crosshairs of the ruling party are the discontents in the Socialist Party with forming a united front with LFIa formation that Macron described as “anti-Semitic” and “unparliamentary”and the conservatives of LR who refuse to agree with the extreme right.
On his decision to call elections, which observers consider a “risky bet”Macron explained that it is a political “clarification movement” to “avoid giving the keys of power to the extreme right” in 2027, alluding to the theoretical date of the next presidential elections.
The elections mean, according to Macron, “a democratic response” to the “blockade” in the National Assembly and to what happened on Sunday at the polls. “Our compatriots expressed their concerns about security, immigration, purchasing power“, explained the president, who assumed during a press conference that in a scenario like the current one, “changes in government or coalitions” were not enough.
The elections legislativein two rounds, the June 30 and July 7.
The electoral advance does not affect Macronwho will continue as president until 2027, but runs the risk that during the end of his second and last term he will have to share power with a government of another political color in a “cohabitation.”
In that senseMacron described it as “absurd” that he himself could resign.
Macron sees room to continue taking action on issues such as “illegal” immigration or security, or even “open a great debate on secularism” in France, but “very clearly” he clarified that “maximum firmness” must be undertaken “within the framework of the Republic and its values,” which in his opinion is also combat hate messages.
The president acknowledged that in no case is his bloc “perfect,” but he tried to contrast his policies and promises with the supposed lack of ideas and contradictions that he attributes to other parties, for example in matters of pensions either energy.
No big announcements have come out of the appearance, beyond specific promises such as construction of eight nuclear reactors to reduce dependence on fossil fuels or measures to delay minors’ access to mobile phones and social networkswhich is why it has ended up being assumed within the French political class as the first campaign act for a Macron who already clarified on Tuesday that he will not resign “whatever the result” of the parliamentary elections.
However, during question time the president stated that it is not up to him to campaign for this imminent vote, but to the prime minister, Gabriel Attal. “The president is not here to campaign,” she said.
(With information from AFP and Europa Press)
