French elections: Macron’s top officials divided on how to fight far-right

4 months ago 18

French President Emmanuel Macron’s top officials show deep divisions over the best way to fight the far right ahead of the snap elections’ second round, in a rare show of public disagreement within his team.

The French far-right secured a historic voter share of 34% in the first round of snap legislative elections on Sunday (30 June), with the left coalition ‘Front Populaire’ in second (28.1%) and Macron’s centrist party pushed into third place (20.3%).

“Our objective is clear: prevent the Rassemblement National from securing an absolute majority at the National Assembly and governing the country with its disastrous [political] project. Not a single vote must go to the Rassemblement National,” France’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said some two hours after first poll estimates were released.

How to do that, however, is subject to significant divisions within the presidential party.

Macron’s centrist ‘Ensemble’ coalition angled its campaign against both the far-right Rassemblement national (RN) and the far-left La France insoumise (LFI), effectively treating them as two sides of the same “extreme” coin.

This was met harshly by political leaders from the left and—at first timidly—by the centre, which claimed the far left was nowhere near as dangerous.

In a statement released minutes after exit polls were published, Macron said it was “time for a large and clear gathering of democratic and republican forces,” remaining blurry over whether that included the far-left, which has been accused of encouraging antisemitic discourse.

Attal eventually clarified the president’s line, confirming that Ensemble candidates that made it to the second round of the snap elections in third place, behind the far right and a ‘Front Populaire’ contender, should drop out of the race at once.

He did not say, however, whether this included LFI candidates, talking instead of left wing candidates that can “uphold Republican values”.

This has caused some of Macron’s closest ministers and MEPs to request greater clarity – also hinting that, with the centrists having suffered a severe defeat, the time is ripe to question the president’s strategy publicly.

Roland Lescure, energy minister and a political heavyweight in EU circles on all things nuclear, called on “all [his] colleagues from the [centrist coalition] to leave the race when in third place,” no matter which left party runner-ups are from, including LFI.

“You must vote for the candidate who is face-to-face with an RN [opponent] in the second round, whoever they may be,” former transport and EU minister Clément Beaune, a long-time Macron ally, posted on X.

“We must do everything we can to beat the RN candidate who comes first when the [centrist coalition] Ensemble candidate comes third,” environment expert MEP Pascal Canfin also said.

Even Valérie Hayer, who spearheaded the pro-Macron campaign in EU elections and was re-elected last week as president of the liberal Renew Group at the European Parliament, made clear “everything must be done” to stop the far-right from securing an absolute majority.

Meanwhile, Aurore Bergé, gender equality minister and a former Républicains (EPP) party member, said she categorically refused to vote for LFI. This was echoed by Yael Braun-Pivet, President of the National Assembly until the snap elections were called, who blamed LFI for their antisemitic discourse.

[Edited by Chris Powers]

France’s mysterious two-round voting system, explained

French voters go to the polls this Sunday (30 June) for the first round of snap legislative elections – but the country’s two-round first-past-the-post system makes projections complex and political tactics numerous, ultimately benefiting the surging far-right.