Having come out on top in the first round of the legislative elections, the National Rally (RN) and its allies could obtain a large relative majority in the National Assembly, or even an absolute majority. With potentially 285 to 315 triangular contests in the second round and 150 to 170 duels (Ipsos estimate), it is an understatement to say that the voting instructions of each party were awaited with a mixture of impatience and dread on June 30 after the announcement of the results. Here they are.
THE PRESIDENTIAL MAJORITY
“Faced with the National Rally, the time has come for a broad, clearly democratic and republican gathering for the second round,” Emmanuel Macron said in a written statement. “The high turnout in the first round (…) demonstrates the importance of this vote for all our compatriots and the desire to clarify the political situation. Their democratic choice obliges us,” added the President of the Republic.
Edouard Philippe, for his part, considered that “no vote” should “be cast for the candidates of the National Rally, nor for those of La France Insoumise”. “In line with this position, I will propose to the Horizons candidates who came third, who could, by their presence in the second round, without hope of victory, favour the election of a candidate from the extremes, to withdraw in favour of the candidates, of the parties with which we share the same democratic and republican demands”, declared the former Prime Minister.
The minister responsible for gender equality Aurore Bergé, for her part, rejected any automatic withdrawal from the second round of the legislative elections, rejecting the calls launched by the left. Finally, the outgoing president of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet called for voting for the “most republican” candidate in the second round, to the exclusion of “a certain number of candidates” from the left alliance.
THE NEW POPULAR FRONT
La France Insoumise (LFI) will “withdraw” its candidacies in the constituencies where it came in third place and where the National Rally (RN) is in the lead ahead of the second round of the legislative elections, assured Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “Nowhere will we allow the RN to win. […] Our instructions are simple, direct and clear. Not one vote, not one more seat for the RN,” urged the Insoumis leader, who described this election as a “heavy and indisputable defeat” for Emmanuel Macron.
“We have seven days to save France from a catastrophe,” said Raphaël Glucksmann of the Place publique party, who called on all the candidates who came in third place to withdraw from the RN. “What we do, what we say in the days, in the hours to come, will determine our place in the history of our country,” he added.
The leader of the Ecologists Marine Tondelier, for her part, advocated the “construction of a new republican front”, directly challenging Emmanuel Macron’s camp. “It would be incomprehensible if some people continued not to differentiate between the left and the far right”, she declared, calling on “centrist political leaders” to “withdraw if you are third in the three-way races, and if you are not qualified for the second round, call on you to vote for a candidate who defends republican values”.
TO THE RIGHT
The Republicans, who would have obtained nearly 10% of the votes in the first round, according to initial estimates, affirmed that “macronism is dead” and called to vote for their qualified candidates for the second round, refusing to give voting instructions in other cases. “Where we are not present in the second round, considering that voters are free to choose, we do not give national instructions and let the French express themselves in conscience,” indicated the management of LR in a press release.
On TF1, MEP François-Xavier Bellamy stood out, believing that “the danger facing our country today is the extreme left”.
ON THE EXTREME RIGHT
Former Reconquête MEP Marion Maréchal, allied with the National Rally, considered that an absolute majority was “possible” but “not yet achieved”. “Today there are LR candidates who will be able to stay in the second round, LR candidates who did not want to unite in the first round. It is their responsibility not to stay in the second round so as not to risk (…) favoring and paving the way, today, for this far-left coalition,” she said on BFMTV.