(Bloomberg) – Chairman Emmanuel Macron said the agendas of the far-right and far-left blocs in France’s upcoming parliamentary elections are pitting the country’s people against each other, joining others in his camp in highlighting the dangers of what he called “extreme” parties.
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The far-right National Rally’s plan to tackle crime and insecurity “refers to people of one religion or origin – it divides and leads to a civil war,” Macron said in an interview with a Génération Do It Yourself podcast broadcast on Monday evening . The far-left France Unbowed, part of a hastily cobbled together alliance, also leans on sectarian politics that would provoke similar hostilities, he said.
The comments come as Macron’s centrist party trails the National Rally and the left-wing New People’s Front in the polls, with less than a week before the first round of voting. One pollster even suggested that the far-right party could win an outright majority in the National Assembly, although France’s two-round voting system makes prediction difficult.
In the days after Macron’s surprise call for elections to renew the National Assembly two weeks ago, his allies have taken to the airwaves to speak about the dangers of the far right or far left coming to power. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said a National Rally government of Marine Le Pen would damage “civil peace.” He has also warned that both the far right and the left would be disastrous for the economy.
The comments have done little to halt the rise of the National Rally and the Alliance of the Left in the polls. Le Pen’s party would win the first round of the French parliamentary elections with 36%, according to the latest Ifop-Fiducial poll on voting intentions published on Monday. The alliance of left-wing parties would get 29.5%, while Macron’s group would get 20.5%.
Investors dumped French assets in the days after Macron’s call for the vote, worried about how a new government could widen the country’s budget deficit even further. The turmoil pushed the risk premium on French government bonds versus German ones to the highest level since 2012 last week, although that gap narrowed slightly on Monday.
The first round of elections is scheduled for June 30 and the second round is scheduled for July 7. Macron, who called for a vote after his party was defeated in the European Parliament elections, appeared to acknowledge in the podcast that his group may face a loss in the vote.
National Rally leader Jordan Bardella has worked to convince voters that he can be trusted with overseeing the country’s economy.
On Monday he outlined the party’s plan to pay for a reduction in sales taxes on energy and fuel – which would cost 7 billion euros a year – by cutting France’s contribution to the EU budget, which would eliminate tax breaks for shipping companies . and increasing levies on energy company profits.
The National Rally “is the only movement that can immediately and reasonably realize the expectations of the French. In three words: we are ready,” he said. “We aim to return the country to fiscal discipline.”
Most pollsters predict that the National Rally will form the largest group in the National Assembly, but will fall short of the 289 seats needed for an outright majority. Odoxa’s latest research predicts that the party will get between 250 and 300 seats.
This scenario – in which National Rally wins the most seats in the legislature, but falls short of an outright majority – would likely lead to a stalemate in the House of Commons, meaning any ambitious legislation or reform would have to be sidelined.
Macron justified his call for the vote by saying there was a lot of anger in France and that he wanted the country’s people to have “a voice.”
“It won’t be anyone’s fault the night of the second round; it will be the responsibility of the French people,” he said. “For me it is not a bet, but trust” in the voters, he added.
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