Gabriel Attal, Jordan Bardella and Jean-Luc Mélenchon face to face during a debate before the legislative elections? It’s quite possible… A date would even already be considered.
While Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday the dissolution of the National Assembly, leading to the holding of new legislative elections on June 30 and July 7, the political forces are getting organized. On the one hand, the “Popular Front” is looking for an agreement, on the other, the LR have been divided since Eric Ciotti announced that he wanted to ally with the RN. For its part, the majority coalition comes together under the name “Together for the Republic”.
According to The Parisian, the three headliners of these different movements could meet during a major debate. A project would be under study to organize a televised face-to-face meeting between Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who was charged by Emmanuel Macron with leading the legislative campaign, the president of the RN Jordan Bardella and the LFI leader Jean -Luc Mélenchon. The date of June 24 would even have been brought forward, a week before the first round of voting, according to the newspaper’s sources.
Gabriel Attal ready to debate
Gabriel Attal, traveling to Boulogne-sur-Mer, said he was “favorable” to such a debate, confirming that his teams have already been approached by several media. This “must be between those who have been more or less identified as potentially Prime Minister at the end of these legislative elections and therefore from political backgrounds who have the capacity to obtain a majority in the Assembly, with Mr. Bardella for the extreme right and its allies, Mr. Mélenchon for the extreme left and its allies, and then myself for this progressive bloc that I represent”, he said at the microphone of BFMTV.
The presence of Jean-Luc Mélenchon in such a debate seems less obvious than the two other possible participants. Would the “Popular Front” currently under construction and seeking an agreement validate that the LFI leader represents it during this major event of the campaign? Fabien Roussel and François Ruffin also said they felt “capable” of assuming the role of head of government.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon finally confirmed, later in the day, an invitation to the TF1 and France 2 debates.
I thank TF1 and France 2 for their invitation to the debates with Attal and Bardella. THE #NewPopularFront has not yet named its prime minister candidate. It is therefore up to the leaders of the major parties in our coalition to go to this type of debate.
— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) June 13, 2024
Such a configuration would establish the vision of a three-camp election, notably excluding in a certain way the Republicans and Reconquest, unless they decide to ally themselves with the RN.