9:02 p.m., Sunday June 9. France falls into a dizzying unknown, after the presidential announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly. Since then, each day has its share of surprises. This Sunday, June 16, marks the deadline for candidacy submissions in the 577 constituencies, before the start of the official campaign on Monday. Nicolas Sarkozy has finally spoken out, attacking Éric Ciotti’s decision to join the RN.
The issue of the day: applications closed at 6 p.m.
This Sunday, 6 p.m., sounds the death knell for candidacy submissions, party agreements and other small arrangements. Candidates for the legislative elections in the 577 constituencies had until today to submit their declaration of candidacy to the prefecture.
The New Popular Front is preparing to nominate 547 candidates, including 230 under the LFI banner, 175 for the PS, 92 for the Ecologists and 50 for the Communist Party. As for the National Rally, the number of candidates nominated is not yet known. Jordan Bardella also announced his support for 77 LR candidates, from the support of Eric Ciotti. At Renaissance, more than 200 applications had been submitted on Friday evening, while in certain departments, the choice of agreements for a single candidate was made.
The tackle of the day: Sarkozy charges Ciotti
His word was expected. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy gave his assessment of the situation in an interview with JDD. He did not hold back his blows against his former party comrade, Éric Ciotti, who announced at the start of the week that he was joining the National Rally. This decision carries, according to the former head of state, the risk that the contested boss of LR becomes “a “supplement” of the RN. He also considers that Jordan Bardella, in whom he finds “talent”, lacks experience to be Prime Minister.
Basically, Nicolas Sarkozy judges this LR-RN alliance “all the more inopportune when the Republican right is so weak because it is then an absorption”. “Being the deputy of the RN is not an ambition but an acknowledgment of renunciation,” he summarizes.
Renunciation of the day: Adrien Quatennens will not be a candidate
His candidacy was not unanimous: the outgoing deputy from the North Adrien Quatennens, convicted of domestic violence in 2022, finally gave up running. Under pressure from socialists and ecologists after his inauguration by La France Insoumise, he indicated that he did not want his candidacy “to be used” against the New Popular Front “at a time when all energy must be used to beat the ‘far right”. Aurélien Le Coq is invested in his place, still under the LFI banner.
While certain historical members of the LFI, accused of taking a dissident line, were not invested, such as Alexis Corbière and Danielle Simonnet, the candidacy of Adrien Quatennens was strongly criticized, including within the ranks of the party. “You prefer a man who hits his wife, author of domestic violence, to comrades who have the impudence to have a disagreement with the great leader. Our democracy deserves better than you”, launched yesterday, the outgoing deputy of the Somme, François Ruffin, with regard to Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Support of the day: Lionel Jospin and the New Popular Front
One more step for the solidification of the left front? Former socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin gave his support this Sunday to the New Popular Front. He also criticized Emmanuel Macron who, with the dissolution, “offers the National Rally the opportunity to seek power”. “It’s not responsible,” he said in an interview with World. The former Prime Minister (1997-2002) attacks the “arrogance” and “lightness” of the president, who “drags the French into his haste”.
Sentence of the day: Mélenchon (not) Prime Minister?
“If you think that I should not be Prime Minister, I will not be,” he declared this Sunday Jean-Luc Mélenchon on France 3. The leader of the Insoumis clarified, concerning a potential candidacy of Prime Minister in the event that the union of the left has a relative majority, that “it is up to the political parties which constitute the coalition” of the left to “take the right decision”. “People repeated for days and days that I was divisive. I was accused of everything and anything, of anti-Semitism, of this, of that […]. I will never be the problem, I will always be on the side of the solution,” he said.
The leader of the radical left party indicated on the set of France 2 on Wednesday that he felt “capable” of being Prime Minister of a government. In 2022, after the legislative elections which only gave Emmanuel Macron a relative majority, Jean-Luc Mélenchon called on him to appoint him Prime Minister.
Today’s interview: fear about real estate loans
The executive is in the campaign, including, and above all, Emmanuel Macron. Since his announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly last Sunday, the President of the Republic has increased his attacks against his political adversaries, from the National Rally (RN) to the Union of the Left, grouped under the banner of the New Popular Front.
If the RN comes to power, “credit will cost more”, affirmed Emmanuel Macron during his press conference on Wednesday June 12, explaining that “real estate loans will skyrocket because rates will skyrocket”. And his Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, added: “if the RN implements its program, a debt crisis is possible in France”. Fictitious or real projections? For L’Express, Anthony Morlet-Lavidalie, economist at Rexecode, deciphers the challenges of Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen taking charge of the National Rally on July 7.