Five days before the first round of early legislative elections in France, the leaders of the main groups met – Jordan Bardella (the far-right National Rally Party), Gabriel Attal (Presidential Majority), and Manuel Bompart (the left-wing New Popular Front coalition). ) – Faces were seen last night in a televised debate, where, over two hours, purchasing power and insecurity were among the strengths of the meeting, as was the case in the last European election campaign. All this is in light of accusations of dragging the country into a “civil war” launched by President Emmanuel Macron the previous day against “both sides.”
The extreme right and left refuse to follow in the footsteps of Macronism and turn off the tap with cuts aimed at reducing the country’s deficit, which amounts to 5.5%. Bompart called for raising the minimum wage in order to “activate the virtuous circle,” reducing the value-added tax, and reducing taxes on electricity, gas, and fuel. However, Attal remained steadfast in his thoughts: “I will not increase taxes, but I will not cancel pension reform either. I will not do like them, who promise things in the election campaign that they will not be able to deliver.” Do it later,” the Prime Minister said during the discussion. “The level of taxes in this country at the moment is unsustainable and my goal is to give citizens breathing space through purchasing power,” Bardella responded.
Pensions and minimum wages
After a long debate about purchasing power, followed by pension reform and raising the minimum wage, security was another major point. The far right continues with its plan to focus on security with greater border control, revoking biological citizenship or preventing some foreigners from qualifying for “strategic jobs.” For his part, Bompart noted that France today also thanks those immigrants who worked for the country.
The latest polls published earlier this week put the PRN in the lead, with 36%, followed by the left-wing coalition (the Socialists, Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La França Insubmisa, the environmentalists and the communists) with 27%, and third, with a very slim chance. The exit from these elections strengthened the presidential majority (20%).
However, hours before the debate, the political topic of the day was Macron’s statements on the Génération Do It Yourself program, in which on Monday he again referred to the two forces most likely to vote (RN and La França Insubmisa), as “both extremes”, and felt that Their programs will lead the country “into civil war.”
“A few weeks ago we were on the brink of civil war in New Caledonia and the association was not dissolved, so has it been dissolved now?”, criticized BFMTV political editor Laurent Neumann. Away from the screens, on the street, Macron was criticized for “dramatizing danger,” as a resident of the 8th arrondissement of Paris told this newspaper.
“The far-right responded [en termes d’inseguretat] People return to a religion or origin, which is why it divides and leads to civil war (…). The revolutionaries [La França Insubmisa] During his talk on the podcast, in which he stressed that he understood “the message of the French,” the president said that they are presenting a form of sectarianism that is very non-electoral, and behind that there is also the civil war.
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