After Macron’s irresponsible decision to “disband to clarify”, it was up to the electorate to prevent Le Pen’s far right from taking power. And so it has been. A large mobilisation tells us that, without losing sight of history – of their history – the French have voted with the feeling that something very important was at stake. While all the European capitals held their breath, especially as suspicions of collusion between the far right and Putin’s Russia became clearer, the majority of the French understood that the far right had to be prevented from coming to power. But also that the only way to do so was to elect the candidate who was competing against Le Pen’s successor, the ephebe Bardella, regardless of his political colour.
It is called the Republican Front. It was first put to the test by the massive wave of withdrawals by the candidates who were the worst placed in the numerous triangular elections that resulted from the first round. In record time, a broad spectrum made up of Ensemble, the president’s party led by the young Gabriel Attal, and the New Popular Front, formed this cordon sanitaire when everything seemed to indicate that it had suffered a dangerous decline. The number of triangular contests fell from 306 to 89. The Socialists benefited from the withdrawal of Macronist candidates and the rebellious left also accepted, with exemplary conviction, that its candidates were taking a backseat compared to the Macronists who had come out in a better position. It was the conservative Republican party that denied this reciprocity to the left-wing candidates, one more notch in its revolver of rotten bullets.
Jordan Bardella wasted no time in speaking of the “alliance of dishonour” in reference to the Republican front. Like Le Pen, Bardella once again claims to represent a people that only seems to be guaranteed if they win. Before Bardella, Le Pen had spoken in recent days of this alliance as an unnatural pact with the aim, most likely, of denying its legitimacy. Although Le Pen wants to establish herself as the bearer of the national essence, the true representative of the losers and the peripheral, this Republican front remains the cornerstone that gives identity to a certain democratic conception of the French Republic.
However, we must not be naive. With these legislative elections, France is opening a new chapter marked by the fragility of the political parties that have fought against the extreme right. The 2027 presidential elections are just around the corner and that prospect will play an important role in any negotiations. What we can say tonight is that the Republican front has played its role. Now it is time to combine it with a governable National Assembly. Macron will have to cohabit, and most importantly, he will have to listen to and collaborate with the parties that have come to his rescue. Once again, the danger of the extreme right has made the parties put aside their differences. The results indicate that the values of the Republic remain intact. And, very likely, with them those of Europe.
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