On Tuesday 2 July, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal called for the formation of a “plural Assembly, with different political forces represented” after Sunday’s second round of legislative elections

Campaigning in Paris on Tuesday 2 July, Gabriel Attal reaffirmed his opposition to an absolute majority for the RN ahead of this Sunday’s second round of legislative elections. “The RN has a project that is the antithesis of the values of the Republic”, he stressed. “Today, only the far right is in a position to obtain an absolute majority in the National Assembly. LFI and the New Popular Front cannot, whatever happens, achieve an absolute majority”, said the Prime Minister.

So, for the leader of the presidential camp, “the alternative is clear”, defending “a plural Assembly, with different political forces represented”.

Which government?

A proposal already made by Gabriel Attal on Monday on TF1, to which Manuel Bompard, coordinator of La France insoumise, replied on Tuesday on RMC-BFMTV: “The insoumis will only govern to apply their programme, nothing but the programme.”

“I am not going to take part in any government whatsoever that does not re-establish tax justice, that does not implement a policy of wealth distribution other than that put in place by Gabriel Attal and Emmanuel Macron,” assured the MP for Bouches-du-Rhône, who was re-elected on Sunday in the first round of the legislative elections.

Withdrawal does not mean rallying

The RN came out on top in the first round of the legislative elections on Sunday, with more than 10.6 million votes, or 33.1% of the vote, an all-time high – excluding the second round of the presidential elections in 2022. The RN has already elected 39 MPs, qualified in 443 of the 577 constituencies and is leading in 296 of them.

With 27.99% of the vote, the coalition of left-wing parties under the banner of the New Popular Front has already won 32 seats, ahead of the presidential camp (20.8% of the vote). Since Monday, the withdrawals of left-wing and Macronist candidates have been multiplying to prevent the far right from obtaining an absolute majority in this Sunday’s second round.

“Withdrawal does not mean rallying”, Gabriel Attal clarified on Tuesday, adding that “in some constituencies, you have to vote, not for a candidate, but against the Rassemblement national”.