“Crossing my fingers” against Le Pen
Scholz exchanges daily SMS with Macron
03.07.2024, 01:07
Heads of government usually avoid commenting on other countries’ elections. In the case of France, the Chancellor is making an exception. A victory for the right-wing populists would be depressing, explains Scholz. He currently picks up his mobile phone every day to write to Macron.
Before the decisive round of the parliamentary elections in France on Sunday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has backed French President Emmanuel Macron. At the moment he is texting Macron every day, Scholz said at the summer party of the SPD’s parliamentary left in Berlin. “We are discussing the situation, which is really depressing.”
After losing the European elections, Macron called for new parliamentary elections. In the first round, Marine Le Pen’s right-wing Rassemblement National became the strongest force, ahead of a new left-wing alliance and President Macron’s centrist camp in third place. However, the composition of the National Assembly will only be decided in the decisive second round of voting next Sunday.
Although chancellors usually stay out of democratic elections in other countries, Scholz took a clear position in favor of the second round of voting: “I, for one, keep my fingers crossed that the French, whom I love and appreciate so much, the country that means so much to me, will succeed in preventing a government there led by a right-wing populist party,” said Scholz.
Macron camp and left form tactical alliance
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal once again called for a “diverse National Assembly in which different political forces are represented”. But the aim is to prevent the right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National from gaining an absolute majority, he said at a campaign event. In many constituencies, it is therefore important to vote against the right-wing candidates by giving one’s vote to a political competitor who has a better chance than the candidate from one’s own camp. But this does not mean that one is supporting the political aspirations of the competitor – for example, when supporters of the Macron camp vote for candidates from the left-wing alliance to block the extreme right.
As was announced on the evening after the deadline, there will be tactical agreements in over 210 of the 577 constituencies for the final round of the election. This means that third-placed candidates from the left-wing alliance or the government camp withdrew their candidacy in the first round to allow the other to win against the right. According to a preliminary count by the newspaper “Le Parisien”, 215 constituencies are at stake. 76 of the 577 parliamentary seats were already directly awarded in the first round of voting.
The Left Party’s campaign coordinator, Manuel Bompard, ruled out any government cooperation between his party and the presidential camp in an interview with the broadcaster BFMTV. “Our party representatives will only govern to implement their program, their program alone.” RN leader Le Pen reiterated her desire to take over the government with an absolute majority. “We want to govern so that things are clear,” she told the broadcaster France Inter.