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, the campaign has been in full swing to elect the 577 deputies who will make up the National Assembly and who will shape the future majority that will govern the country. This Thursday, June 20, representatives of the main political forces were invited to defend their economic program before Medef and employers’ organizations. Gabriel Attal, for his part, called on the French to “choose” him in the face of the “extremes”, while Eric Ciotti rejects the extreme right label which was attributed to him by the Council of State.
Today’s appeal: Attal asks the French to “choose” him as Prime Minister
Gabriel Attal always reminds us a little more every day: the leader of Macronie for these legislative elections is him. During the presentation of the presidential camp program this Thursday, the tenant of Matignon called on voters to “choose” him as Prime Minister. All this, by once again placing itself as the bulwark against the “extremes”, embodied in its eyes by the National Rally and the New Popular Front.
“Whatever the result of the election, the President of the Republic is president until 2027. The result of the election is therefore not who is President of the Republic, it is who is Prime Minister , who governs, with what government and what majority”. Before adding: “On January 9, the President of the Republic appointed me. On June 30, I would like the French to choose me.” However, nothing ensures that Emmanuel Macron will not choose him again at Matignon, even in the unlikely event today of a victory for the presidential camp.
The big talk of the day: in front of employers, the different camps defend their economic project
What vision for the French economy? Employer organizations, notably Medef, heard this Thursday the main party and coalition leaders of these legislative elections: Edouard Philippe for Horizons, Boris Vallaud and Eric Coquerel for the New Popular Front, Jordan Bardella and Eric Ciotti for their union around the National Rally, Bruno Le Maire for the presidential camp, and Bruno Retailleau for Les Républicains. An interview which was already off to a bad start for the left alliance and the RN, with Medef having judged their measures “inappropriate” and “dangerous” for the economy this Wednesday.
First interviewed, former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe insisted that it was “absolutely not necessary to change the logic” of the policy in favor of businesses implemented since 2017 by the presidential camp. Eric Coquerel and Boris Vallaud, for the New Popular Front, asked for “an effort of economic patriotism” from the billionaires, while defending the virtues of their demand-led recovery project, notably through the increase in the minimum wage but also the creation of “new tax revenue”.
Jordan Bardella and Eric Ciotti, for the first time side by side in this campaign since the signing of their electoral agreement, denounced the “budgetary unreason” of the government and the “risk of economic decline” of the country. The boss of the RN promised an audit of public accounts to restore “order”. On pensions, the latter also assured that he wanted to maintain retirement at 60 for long careers, but without really deciding on the general postponement to 64 of the latest government reform.
Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy since 2017, for his part assured that “France’s budgetary room for maneuver is zero”, describing the proposals from the union of the left and the RN as “delusional and setbacks in the public finance situation. Finally, Senator LR Bruno Retailleau criticized the model of “social statism” in place “for years”, pleading for “more growth” by focusing on competitiveness and “less spending”, ensuring that the State had to achieve nearly 100 billion euros in savings.
Rant of the day: Ciotti refuses the far-right label
The Ministry of the Interior has made a decision. The alliance between Eric Ciotti – and the rare Republican executives who followed him – with the National Rally was classified as a “union of the extreme right” by Place Beauvauresponsible for organizing legislative elections.
The symbol of this decision scandalized the president (on reprieve) of the Republicans, who did not fail to heavily criticize this choice. “We are the union of the right and nothing else,” he said. He denounced “a low maneuver by Macronie” and “a democratic scandal of unprecedented gravity”, demanding an “immediate rectification” on the part of Gérald Darmanin and the Ministry of the Interior.
Eric Ciotti also sees behind this decision a “double standard” in relation to the qualification attributed to the New Popular Front. “The alliance of socialists, the NPA and the Insoumis is simply described as a ‘union of the left’ by Mr. Darmanin,” he lambasted. “This ambivalence of treatment is blatant. On the one hand, patriotic French people are unfairly labeled. On the other, a seditious, factious and anti-Semitic extreme left benefits from much gentler terminology.”
Note that the National Rally had already contested this qualification as “extreme right”. The Council of State, last March, nevertheless confirmed this classification.
The date to mark in the diary: June 25, the first big debate
On June 25, at 6 p.m., the France team will play its last Euro 2024 group match against Poland. But on the same channel (TF1), at 9 p.m., the first major debate of these legislative elections will also be held, five days before the first round. If unsurprisingly, Jordan Bardella and Gabriel Attal will respectively represent the National Rally and the presidential camp, the New Popular Front has chosen to send the former LFI deputy for Bouches-du-Rhône and general coordinator of the movement, Manuel Bompard.
The left has thus decided to divide the four major debates which will be held between now and July 7 between the four main political forces which make up their union: Manuel Bompard (LFI) for TF1, Olivier Faure (PS) for France 2, Marine Tondelier (Les Ecologistes) for BFMTV, and finally Fabien Roussel (PCF) for CNews.
Today’s poll: the RN still in the lead, the presidential camp is on the rise
According to an Ifop-Fiducial survey for LCI, Le Figaro and Sud Radio published this Thursday, the alliance between the National Rally and the LR fringe party with Eric Ciotti would collect 34% of the votes in the first round of the legislative elections, on June 30. That is, five points ahead of the left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front, estimated at 29% according to this study. The Macronist camp, for its part, is estimated at 22%, an increase compared to most opinion studies published since the dissolution.
Finally, the Republicans – outside the alliance with the RN – are stagnating at 6% of the votes, while Reconquest would only collect 2% of the votes. According to this study, participation in the first round would also be estimated at 64%.