In the week separating the two votes, the movements and the slogans of the vote will be essential, and the movements have begun as soon as the results are known. In particular, the decision of the candidates who finished in third place in the first round, who must now decide whether to withdraw from the race and ask their voters to support a rival party to block a victory for the ultra party candidate Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, in those constituencies where the far right has reached the final.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for “a clearly democratic and republican broad union” against the far right in the second round of parliamentary elections in a statement to the AFP agency.
For the time being, the presidential coalition has asked the candidates who finished in third place to withdraw “in favor of the candidates” [de otros partidos] “who are in a position to defeat AN and with whom we share what is essential: the values of the Republic.” In a statement, Together for the Republic pointed out that “given the threat of a victory by the far right, we call on all political parties to act responsibly and do the same.” [bloquear a la extrema derecha]”.
However, the presidential majority also believes that the candidates of France Insoumise, a left-wing party of the New Popular Front, do not share these republican values. “The New Popular Front pays for its alliance with France Insoumise, a party known for its anti-republican provocations [referencia a los valores de la República]', says the statement, assuring that the progressive coalition is therefore not in a position to be an alternative government.
From the patio of the Hôtel de Matignon, the prime minister's residence, Gabriel Attal warned with a serious look that “the far right is at the gate of power.” Attal, the last political leader to speak out publicly, stated that the goal from now on is to “prevent RN from reaching an absolute majority in the second round, dominating the National Assembly and ruling the country with the disastrous project that theirs is. Under these circumstances, no vote should go to RN. France deserves that we do not hesitate.”
“Democracy has spoken,” declared a victorious Marine Le Pen from her fiefdom of Hénin-Beaumont, in the Pas-de-Calais department, to a room full of followers waving tricolor flags, to whom she announced that she had been re-elected in her constituency in the first round. The party leader declared that the AN advantage showed that voters “in an unequivocal vote, [han] “has shown his willingness to turn the page after seven years of Macron's arrogant and undermining government.”
After Le Pen knew the results, he called for greater mobilization for next Sunday. “Nothing has been won and the second round will be decisive to prevent the country from falling into the hands of the Nupes coalition, a far-left party with violent tendencies,” said the ultra leader, who called the New Popular Front by its old name. For Le Pen, next Sunday's meeting “will be decisive in giving Jordan [Bardella] the absolute majority in the National Assembly, to launch from next week the recovery of France and the restoration of national unity and harmony.”
Bardella himself expressed the same sentiment from Paris, where he watched the election night in a conference room in one of the capital's most exclusive neighborhoods, on Wagram Avenue. “If the voters give us the absolute majority to get this country back on its feet, I intend to be the Prime Minister of the entire French people,” he assured.
Le Pen's words, rebroadcast on a screen, were met with some cheering in the building where France's left-wing Insumisa group monitors the results, in Paris's 10th arrondissement. Standing on stage, France Insoumise founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon, in words that elicited a standing ovation, announced the withdrawal of the candidates who came third in the constituencies in which the far right emerged. “Not one more vote, not one more seat for AN. Our instructions are clear,” he said.
Mélenchon has pointed out that the country 'must choose'. “Will it aggravate the worst divisions, those of social inequality and religious differences, or will it unite to form one people, committed to mutual aid and the common good without preconditions?” he asked in a speech at the conference celebrated the “hard and indisputable defeat” inflicted on Macron's side.
Mélenchon left quickly after finishing his words, flanked by party coordinator Manuel Bompard, who in a television interview deplored the “political mechanism that tries to put AN and LFI on the same level.” “It is unacceptable and unbearable,” he said.
Former French President François Hollande, candidate for deputy in the parliamentary elections for the New Popular Front (which also includes the Socialist Party), called for “the broadest possible union” for the second round against the far right of Marine Le Pen, winner in the first round.
After taking note of the first forecasts, which give the National Rally (RN, an acronym in French) about a third of the votes and leave the NFP in second place with about 28%, Hollande appealed to be 'aware' of the fact that the union is necessary to prevent a potential absolute majority of the far right in the National Assembly.
This union must be “as broad as possible” and he called on all voters, “outside the left”, to express themselves accordingly to defend republican values and have a future National Assembly that respects human rights, regardless of the slogans votes cast by party leaders.