(Paris) Three days before the first round of the historic legislative elections, Marine Le Pen increased tension over a possible coexistence by reducing the position of Commander of the Armed Forces of the President of the Republic to a simple “honorary title”, which is what his comments implicitly assume. By Jordan Bardella, but strongly condemned by Gabriel Attal and the New Popular Front.
In the event of a major success for the far-right party, Marine Le Pen explained, in an interview with Telegram, a difficult coexistence: “The commander of the armed forces, for the president, is an honorary title because he is the prime minister. Who holds the purse strings.” The result, she said: “As for Ukraine, the president will not be able to send troops,” while Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out this option.
It certainly seems that the potential 2027 presidential candidate qualified this statement a few hours later on X, invoking “the reserved space for the President of the Republic.” But she stressed that the head of government has “through budgetary control the means to oppose” sending troops abroad.
“It is the prime minister who decides the operational budget of the armies,” Jordan Bardella stressed during a recent television debate with Socialist Olivier Faure, representative of the New Popular Front, and Gabriel Attal.
These statements made the latter jump. He expressed his annoyance that if the National Front and coexistence win, “there will be some kind of disagreement between the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic to know who will take over the position of Commander of the Armies.” “It is a message sent to the world powers, to the whole world, and it is a very dangerous message for the security of the French.”
During the previous three coexistences of VH In the Republic, the President retained broad powers in matters of international politics and defence, under the “reserved domain”.
But this time, Olivier Faure warns, the far-right party wants to “take over everything.”
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement to Agence France-Presse that he is convinced that “the next government will continue to fully support Ukraine” and “regardless of the political situation.”
Two million agents
The new cohabitation with Jordan Bardella in Matignon requires the National Front to obtain an absolute majority of Assembly seats at the end of the second round on July 7.
The far-right is currently largely in the lead in Sunday's first round, with 36% of voting intentions, according to a survey of nearly 12,000 people conducted by Ipsos-Jean Jaurès-Cevibov and the Institut Montaigne for Le Monde.
According to this extensive study, which does not provide seat forecasts, the left will collect 29% of the votes, the Macron camp 19.5%, and the Left Party 8%.
Photo by Stephane Mahe, Reuters archive
Emmanuel Macron, French President
“The weight of the National Rally party is so great that it cannot envisage not only a relative majority, but we cannot rule out an absolute majority far from it,” confirms the Presse-Tenturer (Ipsos) poll.
But the 577 elections, in each district, contain many unknowns, and the equations are also expected to break down significantly between the two rounds depending on the retention, withdrawal, or even voting instructions.
Only a relative majority could open the possibility of a potential institutional deadlock, which is reinforced by Jordan Bardella's refusal to form a government if he does not obtain an absolute majority.
Interest in these early legislative elections continues: two-thirds of voters plan to vote on Sunday, according to Ifop-Fiducial, which corresponds to the best turnout rate in this type of election since 1997.
As evidence of this enthusiasm, the two million mark was exceeded on Wednesday evening, and more than 410,000 French people abroad took part in the online vote, which closed on Thursday afternoon (compared to 250,000 in 2022), a record number.
Live exchanges
The exchanges were often lively during the recent televised debate.
Gabriel Attal accused his far-right rival of fielding “about a hundred candidates” for the legislative elections, who made “racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic statements”, which the leader of the National Front party categorically rejected.
The Prime Minister also condemned the National Front's desire to “stigmatize 3.5 million French people with dual nationality” by denying them access to certain jobs considered “strategic.”
“A caricature,” Mr. Bardella replied, believing that his opponent “has an interest in playing on fears,” and asserting that he “does not wish to call into question dual citizenship.”
In response to a question about who could reach Matignon in the event of victory, Olivier Faure stressed that it would require “a calm force, a force that knows where it is heading.” Jordan Bardella immediately responded, saying: “Therefore, I will be the Prime Minister of all the French people to start the country's recovery process.”
Photography by Sarah Messonnier, Reuters Archive
Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party
Meanwhile, demonstrations to prevent the national rally broke out again in several major cities in France, involving several thousand people, according to an AFP count.
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