Macron enters the arena

Emmanuel Macron is playing big on Saturday afternoon on the Arena stage in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) for his first meeting of a campaign where he is struggling to consolidate his position as favorite, now challenged by Marine Le Pen .

Eight days before the first round of the presidential election, most of the other candidates are also throwing their last forces into battle, from Compiègne (Oise) for the ecologist Yannick Jadot to Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône) for Eric Zemmour (Reconquest!).

For the president-candidate, no more time to waste after a start to the campaign which caused some concern in the majority.

On the defensive, he must regain momentum and breathe new life by mobilizing some 35,000 people expected in the largest covered hall in Europe, usually host to major sporting events or mega-concerts.

During the preparatory visit, Mr. Macron explained that he wanted a “more carnal thing” than a traditional meeting, which will require “energy” on stage, according to a video released by his campaign team.

After a first “surprise” part, promised “interactive and collaborative”, he will be, at 4:00 p.m., the only speaker for a speech of at least an hour.

It will be “a political speech, a social speech, a speech of unity”, advances his entourage.

It is not a question of presenting his program, which he did in a four-hour press conference in mid-March, but of sharing “a moment of union and communion” with his supporters from all over France. By saying “what we are, where we come from, where we are going”, according to the same source.

“We don’t let go!”, Launched Mr. Macron during the two trips of the week, to Dijon then to Charente-Maritime, during which he was encouraged to “hold on” but also was challenged, sometimes strongly, on purchasing power, its balance sheet or the business of consulting firms, including McKinsey.

– Worry –

The latest polls have confirmed its decline in the polls, after the sharp rise following the start of the war in Ukraine. More than for the first round, where he is still in the lead with 27-28% of the voting intentions, his entourage is worried about the narrowing of the gap with Marine Le Pen in the second of April 24. A study has shown for the first time that the RN candidate could win, if the margin of error is taken into account. The latest Elabe poll published on Saturday confirms this, giving 53% (+0.5 points) in the first, against 47% (-0.5) in the second.

Mr. Macron is now targeting “the far-right tandem” Marine le Pen-Éric Zemmour.

Some 300 parliamentarians and 1,500 local elected officials are expected at the Arena, while more than 500 journalists are accredited.

The majority hopes to give a wide media resonance to this gathering despite the rules of equal speaking time to which television and radio are bound. Continuous news channels should not broadcast the entire meeting.

Calling herself “serene”, Ms. Le Pen appears more than ever determined to replay, to win, the same match as in 2017, with a second round against the outgoing president. “What was announced as the mandatory re-election of Emmanuel Macron was fake news,” she said Friday in Haguenau (Bas-Rhin).

But the rebellious Jean-Luc Mélenchon hopes to disrupt this game by beating her in the first round, the latest polls crediting him with around 15-16% of the voting intentions on April 10. He intends to galvanize his troops on Sunday at the Place du Capitole in Toulouse.

The left accuses Mr. Macron of having raised the far right, like Anne Hidalgo (PS) who denounced on Saturday on RTL the “philosophy” of Emmanuel Macron who, according to her, puts “money before people “.

Philippe Poutou (NPA) also denounced on BFMTV “five years of social attacks”, before bringing together his supporters at the Cirque d’Hiver in Paris. The communist Fabien Roussel will do the same in Villeurbanne (Rhône). While the ecologist Yannick Jadot will participate in the demonstration “End with hunting with hounds” in Compiègne.

The far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, in decline (9-10%) is expected in Aix-en-Provence to hammer home his theme based on the conspiracy theory of the “great replacement”. Sovereignist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan will meet showmen from the Foire du Trône in Paris.

At the same level (around 8.5 to 10%), the right-wing candidate Valérie Pécresse (LR) does not want to “let go of anything” and is also counting on the meeting to be held on Sunday at Porte de Versailles in Paris, where the tenors Les Républicains will call on right-wing voters to rally behind her.

bur-pab-leb-jri-ib/tes

All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. © (2022) Agence France-Presse