Legislative elections: at least 210 withdrawals, including 127 NFP candidates and 81 from Ensemble

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They had until 6pm on Tuesday to decide. On the evening of the results of the first round of the legislative elections, out of the 501 second rounds, there were 306 possible three-way races and five four-way races in France. After the closing of applications, there would now be 92 triangular and two quadrangular shapes remaining.

211 candidates qualified for the second round in a three-way or four-way race have finally chosen to withdraw. in 210 constituencies in order to block the National Rally.

Marine Le Pen’s party, with the help of its allies, made a historic breakthrough in the first round of early legislative elections, electing 39 deputies on Sunday evening and qualifying for the second round in 446 constituencies. To prevent the far-right party from obtaining an absolute majority in the National Assembly (289 seats), dozens of candidates decided to withdraw their candidacy in the second round.

Massive withdrawals among left-wing candidates

As early as Sunday, the New Popular Front parties had asked their candidates who came in third place to withdraw in the event of a three-way race with an RN candidate. The order was widely followed: 127 NFP candidates chose to withdraw. With one exception: in Hérault, LFI candidate Magali Crozier is holding on to the 6th constituency, which is almost entirely won over to the far right, because she will be opposed to Julien Gabarron (RN), who came out on top ahead of Emmanuelle Ménard (supported by the RN in 2022).

La France Insoumise demanded withdrawal only if the RN came out on top. Thus, the LFI candidate for the 10th constituency of Yvelines, Cédric Briolais, opted to remain in the second round, facing the outgoing MP and minister Aurore Bergé and Thomas Chalard (RN).

Some, on the contrary, went beyond the instructions, like Leslie Mortreux (LFI): in the 10th constituency of the North, it was the Minister of the Interior who came out on top, closely followed by the RN candidate Bastien Verbrugghe. L’Insoumise, however, chose to withdraw its candidacy, calling for “do not vote for the National Rally”.

Many withdrawals within the presidential majority, 3 among the Republicans

Within the presidential camp, Gabriel Attal called on Monday on his candidates who came in third place to withdraw in order to prevent the extreme right from obtaining “Full powers”. 81 eventually did so.

On the other hand, several candidates from the majority are holding on, even though they came third. This is the case of Graig Monetti (Horizons, ally of Renaissance) in the constituency of Eric Ciotti, contested president of the Republicans who chose to ally with the RN. The same is true in the 1st constituency of Val-d’Oise, where Emilie Chandler chose to hold on despite an RN candidate coming in first.

The Republicans recorded three withdrawals.

Guest of the “20 hours” from TF1, *The leader of the environmentalists, Marine Tondelier, says she wants to reach out to “some on the right and in the center”.* “What is certain is that politics in this country cannot continue as beforeshe said. There will be no Macronist prime minister, for example. We will have to find solutions, and some people, in the center, on the right, will have to tell us how they want to work in the other direction.”that is, in a direction more compatible with the program of the New Popular Front (NFP).

Four ministers resign

The systematic withdrawal cost several members of the government their jobs. Minister Delegate for Overseas Territories and elected in the 9th constituency of Essonne, Marie Guévenoux withdrew in favor of the NFP candidate who came in first.

Dominique Faure, the Minister Delegate for Communities and Rural Affairs, Fadila Khattabi, Delegate for the Elderly and Disabled, and Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, Secretary of State for the City and Citizenship, had to do the same. The Secretary of State to the Minister of the Armed Forces and outgoing MP for the majority, Patricia Mirallès, who came in third place (22.54%) in the 1st constituency of Hérault, withdrew from the race late Tuesday afternoon.

Conversely, some former members of the government will benefit from these withdrawals. This is the case of the former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who could be re-elected in Calvados thanks to the withdrawal of Noé Gauchard, or of Gérald Darmanin, who will benefit from the withdrawal of a candidate invested by La France Insoumise.

New calls for protests against the far right

Several figures from civil society such as the historian Patrick Boucheron, the economist Julia Cagé, involved alongside the New Popular Front, the feminist and anti-racist activist Rokhaya Diallo, the former Defender of Rights Jacques Toubon, the Nobel Prize-winning writer Annie Ernaux and the actress Judith Godrèche are calling for a rally at Place de la République in Paris on Wednesday, July 3, in favor of a “democratic front against the extreme right”.

On social networks, Aya Nakamura, the most listened to French-speaking singer in the world, calls for voting “against the only extreme to condemn because there is only one”without explicitly citing the National Rally, saying “well placed to understand and know the place of racism in our country.They are the same ones who get pissed off when we shine because we haven’t finished shining.”.