A victory for the “extremists”, whether far right or far left, would lead France to “civil war”. This is the alarm raised by the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron a few days before the first round of the legislative elections which will be held this Sunday 30 June and the following 7 July. The Rassemblement National continues to grow in the polls and stands – according to the latest Ifop-Fiducial survey – at 36% of the preferences of French citizens. The New Popular Front, the coalition that brings together various left-wing political forces, follows with 29.5% of the vote. The centrist and Macronian galaxy instead stops at 20.5%, down 1.5 percentage points compared to just five days ago.
Macron’s appeal to moderates
In an attempt to convince more moderate voters, Macron has once again attacked the two rival camps. The far right of Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen, claims the tenant of the Elysée, “divides and pushes us towards civil war”. While the alliance of left-wing parties proposes “a form of communism” and even in this case, warns Macron, there is the risk of “a civil war”. The words of the French president echo what was declared a few hours earlier by the young prime minister Gabriel Attal, according to whom France “would be heading straight towards disaster” if the Rassemblement National were to win the elections.
Bardella’s manifesto
Warming up the engines ahead of the vote is Jordan Bardella, who is aiming for the position of prime minister. “Our arrival in power will mark France’s return to the European scene to defend our interests,” warned the Marine Le Pen loyalist. Today Bardella presented the electoral manifesto of the Rassemblement National and, pressed by reporters, did not rule out removing the European Union flag from Palazzo Matignon, the Parisian equivalent of Palazzo Chigi. “I’m thinking about it,” said the rising star of the French far right.
Regarding his party’s programmatic lines, Bardella spoke of the need to abolish Macron’s pension reform, but he also called for a “big bang of authority” in schools, with the ban on cell phones in class, the obligation of ” address “you” to teachers and the introduction of compulsory uniform. Supporter of a Europe “of nations”, Bardella specified that he will not fail to support Paris in Ukraine but will oppose the idea of sending troops and long-range missiles to Kiev. Finally, the Middle Eastern question. According to the leader of the Rassemblement National, “recognizing a Palestinian state would be recognizing terrorism.” Indeed, the repeated anti-Semitic attacks in France demonstrate, if anything, the need to raise a “shield for our Jewish compatriots”, to defend them from “an Islamism that not only wants to separate the Republic, but conquer it”.
On the cover: Emmanuel Macron during a press conference at the Elysée, 24 June 2024 (EPA/Teresa Suarez)
