More than a Napoleonic fortress, the atmosphere at the Elysée yesterday was that of a fortress of illusions. So much so that, at the third meeting in less than 24 hours, the ministers summoned by Macron began to leak what the leader was saying: “Not a single vote for the far right, we must remember that in 2017 and 2022, on the left, everyone gave this message, without which your servant (that is, him, ed.) and you yourselves would not be here today.” In short, in view of the run-off elections, an opening of credit also to that left considered until a few hours earlier “extreme” and therefore to be fought on a par with the Le Penists.
Two ministers present at the meeting described it as “extremely tense”, others present – on condition of anonymity – denounced the president’s “disconnection”. And while Macron asked his people to “study each constituency” to build alliances and “act as a barrier to the RN”, yesterday, for the first time, the presidential field was perhaps irreversibly divided. Changing line – and several times – in less than 24 hours, to the point of drawing an unspecified “republican arc with variable geometry” made Macronie implode. “We spent the whole campaign saying that there were two extremes, would only one remain?”, was the attack by Aurore Bergé on France 2, criticizing the opening to LFI, the Mélenchonian wing of the gauche which is also the one with the most candidates running in the second round against the RN. Instead, after the defeat, Macron essentially gives the green light to the far left in view of the second round. “Everything except the RN”.
The moderate wing of the Macronian right is not having it. Rather than giving up on a case-by-case basis with the only caveat of the profile of certain Mélenechonians, namely no to supporting candidates who smell of anti-Semitism; yes to all the others so as not to hand over the absolute majority to the Le Penists. How can the choice be justified to the voters? It is chaos, inside and outside the Palace. The right wing of Macronie, that of the Minister of Economy Le Maire and the former Prime Minister Philippe, calls for “ni-ni”, no indications of voting for one or the other where the Macronians are already out of the game. Philippe, now mayor with large packages of votes (and with his Horizons movement part of the majority) waves an air of free-for-all. The meeting with the ministers in the meantime explodes. Judged “useless”. Amid accusations of sudden changes of direction by the president. The impression is that we are no longer facing the snowplough leader who was able to bring with him pieces of the center, right and left, but “a little schoolteacher who speaks to his students” without having much more to teach. No one or almost no one understands the line that risks clogging up the system. The electorate is also disoriented: three quarters of the French are not willing to follow the voting instructions.
Meanwhile, outgoing Prime Minister Attal has suspended the controversial reform of unemployment benefits that would have shortened the duration of benefits from 18 to 15 months starting December 1. But all things considered, his Ensamble coalition only obtained third place in percentage terms and only 2 elected in the first round (39 for Le Pen with their allies, 32 for the new Popular Front). There are 577 seats. Yesterday, the path to take had to be clarified. Withdrawal? Case by case? Free for all? The messages from the Elysée are ambiguous, with some hoping for a result without winners that would pave the way for a technical government.
More than a hundred (173) announced “withdrawals”: candidates withdrawn as an anti-RN function. Mostly from the left, where she came in third. Today at 6 pm the deadline for filing candidacies. End of suspense. And perhaps the end of the race for Macronie.
