Fanfare, ice cream and straw hats: in the Pharo gardens in Marseille, Emmanuel Macron was expected in front of several thousand people on Saturday for a large meeting between the two rounds, where he intends to address left-wing voters, according to his surroundings.
In the park overlooking the Old Port, the president-candidate arrived at 1:00 p.m. for a lunch with several parliamentarians from the region, including Christophe Castaner, but also the ex-LR Christian Estrosi and Renaud Muselier, the boss of the Provence region. -Alpes-Côte-d’Azur, support for his re-election.
Big absent: Benoît Payan, the mayor of the Marseille city. After the socialist had indicated on Sunday that he would “block the far right by voting Emmanuel Macron”, his presence at the Pharo had been hoped for as a completion of the great gathering to which the president aspires. “He will not be there”, regrets the entourage of Emmanuel Macron.
It is however on the left “with a speech of bias” that the outgoing president intends to address on social and ecological subjects, according to his relatives, while the second city of France has placed Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the lead. in the first round (31%), nearly 9 points ahead of Emmanuel Macron.
Among the topics covered on ecology, it will address in particular the quality of air and water, about which announcements are expected.
Addressing young people
“Emmanuel Macron will say that we heard the message of Sunday, especially young people,” explained one of his advisers. “It’s normal in a democracy to take into account what millions of people say, he will assume it in cash,” he continued.
On the form, the meeting in front of the cathedral of Strasbourg on Tuesday, deemed successful by his camp despite the heckling of protesters, convinced the campaign team to repeat the exercise in the open air, even if it means placing the security services on their teeth .
Under a summer sun, the thousands of supporters found themselves in a fair atmosphere, an ice cream in one hand, a European flag in the other, with a brass band covering “In the death car” by Iggy pop, at the shadow of the relocated studios of non-stop news channels.
Expected from 3:30 p.m., Emmanuel Macron’s speech should last an hour. The candidate must then engage in one of his favorite exercises, a stroll through the crowd.
At the same time, a demonstration “against the far right” is to leave from the Old Port, bringing together several hundred people from the start of the afternoon with LFI or NPA flags.