There are less than 48 hours left before the end of the official campaign, which ends this Friday, July 5 at midnight before a radio silence until the first results on Sunday at 8 p.m. A campaign between the two rounds, express and under high tension. Rarely have the candidates, all parties combined, been confronted with so much violence of all kinds.
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Prisca Thevenot’s team attacked
The attack took place on Wednesday July 3 in the 8th constituency of Hauts-de-Seine, where the government spokesperson is in a runoff against a candidate from the New Popular Front in the second round of elections.legislative. In the evening, while she was putting up posters with her substitute and a few activists in Meudon, a group of about ten young people attacked them and injured her substitute in the arm as well as an activist who suffered a fractured jaw. Prisca Thevenot was not injured, but immediately filed a complaint. The police, who intervened quickly, were able to arrest four of the alleged attackers, although it is not yet known whether they had political motivations.
The attack was condemned on Thursday morning by the political class. The Prime Minister Gabriel Attal recalled his ” full solidarity with the candidate and her teams ” Marine Tondelier, Secretary General of Europe Écologie Les Verts and pillar of the NFP also “ provided support to the victims » recalling that « Nothing justifies violence ” Finally, the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, expressed his ” full support to (our) candidate Marie Dauchy and to Mrs. Thevenot who were attacked “.
RN and NFP candidates attacked
This time, the scene takes place at a market, Wednesday, in the town of La Rochette, in the 3e constituency of Savoie. RN MEP Marie Dauchy is violently attacked while she is handing out leaflets. A man openly hostile to Jordan Bardella makes death threats against the candidate, tries to snatch her leaflets and twice nearly knocks her to the ground. Here again, the attack was immediately condemned by her local opponent Les Républicains.
Also on Wednesday, in the 10th constituency of Loire-Atlantique, in La Chapelle-Heulin, three activists of the rebellious candidate Maxime Viancin were attacked while they were going door to door. A man who claims to be a supporter of the National Rally allegedly chased them down the street chanting: “ Bardella will take care of gauchos, dykes and trans “The alleged attacker then allegedly pushed one activist in the back and punched another. A complaint will be filed.
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Racist mail in Perpignan
While candidates and their campaign teams are facing violence on the ground, speech also seems to have been freed up everywhere in France. Since June 10, the LICRA (League against Racism and Anti-Semitism) has seen the number of reports increase by nearly 40%. Last Tuesday in Perpignan, in the south of the country, a shopkeeper from Kinshasa, Brigitte Vumbi-Borne, a naturalized French citizen, received a letter from the far-right group “La division Marcel Bucard de Perpignan”.
Typewritten, the letter tells her in particular that she is no longer ” legitimate in Perpignan ” and that she must ” sell your house quickly and prepare for your departure for Africa “. Before concluding : ” Starting in September, we will be carrying out a merciless and virulent cleaning of the neighborhood to restore its old Catalan atmosphere. “. The RN mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot, responded in a press release, firmly condemning these threats and assuring “ this lady of all (her) support and (her) affection. »
Police on alert
In this context, the police are preparing for possible post-election tensions. The intelligence services are working hard to screen the far-left and far-right groups and detect any attempts to take action. The threat of a terrorist attack is also taken very seriously, especially with only twenty days to go until the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. On Sunday evening, when the results are announced, no fewer than 30,000 police officers and gendarmes will be mobilized throughout France.
The different political forces are positioning themselves differently in the face of this increasingly tense climate.
Tensions during the campaign: denunciations, recoveries