By deciding to dissolve the National Assembly, Emmanuel Macron took not only the oppositions by surprise. This decision was taken in secret, the members of the government had not been informed of it, the deputies even less; so, since Sunday, we have had to absorb the shock and then organize ourselves very quickly, for a very short campaign.
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“ I’m going to the countryside “, it is a minister who speaks and in her voice, we hear both weariness and the desire to mobilize since, she continues: “ If I don’t believe in it at least a little bit, I’ll give up “. She was only informed of the dissolution, like most members of the government, on Sunday by a call from the Prime Minister, just before the president announced it to the French. A “ shock » as for a deputy who does not want to dwell and declares: “ Now we have to fight ! », reports Valérie Gas from the RFI political department.
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Fight and not waste time, because before going to seek voters in the field, candidates must block paper for leaflets, validate a substitute, open a campaign account, find donors or raise a loan and be invested, which is not so simple, because investitures arrive in waves, following tough internal negotiations.
The countdown begins
In less than three weeks, it’s the first round. The countdown has begun and the campaign promises to be as difficult as the stakes are high. The outstanding question is what size the majority group will be on July 8 and it obsesses outgoing MPs and members of the government alike.
The electoral campaign will be open from Monday June 17, but some activists are already starting to tow for their candidate, this is the case on the Porte de St-Cloud market in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, where activists are mobilizing to support Benjamin Haddad, presidential majority candidate.
Read alsoLegislative elections in France: Gabriel Attal will lead the campaign for the presidential camp
The outgoing deputy for Renaissance, candidate for re-election, impeccable suit, is satisfied with the leaflets he holds in his hand and recognizes that it was necessary to work urgently. “ We wrote them on Monday, we printed them on Tuesday. We have a printer with whom we already worked during the campaign two years ago, who we know, with whom we were also able to work on the European campaign. “, he explains.
Emmanuel Macron, a cumbersome figure
On the leaflet, we see the deputy with his shirt collar open and smiling, but not the face ofEmmanuel Macron. “I have a record, I have worked, I have been on the ground, so above all, I want my fellow citizens, my voters, to vote on my name,” justifies Benjamin Haddad.
On the back of the leaflet, in very small size, the photo of Gabriel Attal in an inset and a statement on illegal immigration. “ You know, there are many of our voters who voted for Emmanuel Macron, who voted for me, who demand authority and order, we must also have a very firm response on these subjects », assures the outgoing MP who at the same time defends himself from any ideological proximity with the extreme right.
Proxy requests explode
Less than three weeks before the start of the legislative elections, voters must also get organized. The first round of voting will be held on June 30. The second, July 7. Two dates which were not planned in the electoral calendar. It will be the vacation period, and the stakes of these elections push citizens to prepare proxies. Since the day after the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly, requests for powers of attorney have been increasing in number.
At the Issy-les-Moulineaux police station, southwest of Paris, the queue is continuous. Voters come to validate proxies made urgently. The vote was not included in Morgane’s program. “ It’s already the school holidays, and I won’t be able to be there to vote, but my husband will be able to be, so we made arrangements between the two of us, it’s not too complicated “, she explains.
But when no one is available to accept your power of attorney, you sometimes have to find another solution. For the legislative elections, the NGO “A Voté”, co-chaired by Clémence Pène, then relaunches once again its “Plan Procu” platform. “ So, either I register as a proxy, this is the person who needs to be voted for, or as a proxy, I volunteer to go and vote for someone. The platform “matches” you with the registered person who is closest to you. And the idea is that we will have to come to an agreement, transmit a voting intention, check that we have the same values. »
And since June 9, the requests have been numerous. “ In three days, we have more volunteers and more matches than in a month on the Europeans ». The platform is accessible everywhere in France and even abroad. An additional way to encourage citizens to vote on June 30.