The first round
– The coalition in support of Macron reduced the Left Nupes alliance led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon by 0.9% in the first round: 25.75% (5,857,558 votes) versus 25.66% (5,836,116 votes) . The vote of those who initially abstained from voting is decisive.
Macron’s invitation
– The French president has urged voters to give him a “strong majority” in the name of France’s “highest national interest”. The reference is mainly to the war in Ukraine and the aftermath in Europe, including the rise in energy prices and the grain crisis. “In these difficult days, the choice you make on Sunday matters more than ever. Nothing would be worse than bringing the disorder in France into the world disorder,” he said on the occasion of the trip to Kyiv with Prime Minister Mario Draghi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Mélenchon and the Assange map
– However, the leader of Nupes would like to “impose cohabitation” on Macron, effectively forcing him to agree with other parties on the continuation of his presidential agenda. Meanwhile, the ace up the sleeve falls: “If I am Prime Minister Julian Assange on Monday, he will be naturalized as French and we will ask that he be evacuated to our country,” he said. In fact, the Wikileaks founder is being extradited to the United States by order of British Home Secretary Priti Patel.
The right
– Among those who reached the second round is Marine Le Pen, President of the Rassemblement National, who received 18.6%. However, the other far-right candidate, Erik Zemmour of Reconquête, is excluded.