France : The campaign for the early legislative elections officially begins Monday with the completion of the candidate lists

On Monday, France officially begins its campaign for early legislative elections based on the final lists of candidates reached by hastily formed parties and alliances.

A week after French President Emmanuel Macron's sudden decision to dissolve the National Assembly, France officially begins its campaign for early legislative elections on Monday.

After the surprise that occurred last Sunday, the parties had until 18:00 on Sunday (16:00 GMT) to present their candidates in 577 French electoral districts.

The vote, in which the National Rally (far-right) party is considered the most likely to win after obtaining 31.4% of the votes in the European elections, is scheduled to take place on June 30 and July 7.

It appears that the fear of the far-right coming to power led to the mobilization of about 250,000 people across the country (640,000 according to the General Confederation of Labor (CGT),) and forced the political class to conduct intensive negotiations.

According to a poll conducted on Sunday by the Elab Institute for the BFMTV television network and the newspaper La Tribune, one in three French people wants the National Rally party to win, one in four wants the Left Alliance to win, and one in five hopes that the Ennahdha Party will win. , led by Macron.

The star and captain of the French football team, Kylian Mbappé, was clear on Sunday in his position regarding the upcoming crucial legislative elections in the country, saying that he was “against extremism and divisive ideas,” adding: “Extremists may seize power in France.”

The leader of the National Rally Party, Jordan Bardella (28 years old), who was considered by former President Nicolas Sarkozy to be " inexperienced " to assume the position of Prime Minister, announced that "there will be a joint candidate with the right in 70 electoral districts."

He also confirmed on Sunday his desire to privatize the public audiovisual media sector “in the long term” if his party comes to power. Meanwhile, Marie-Caroline Le Pen, the sister of National Rally MP leader Marine Le Pen, announced her candidacy on Sunday.

As for the left-wing parties, the trend has been known since the hasty formation of a new front among them called the Popular Front, an alliance that includes the anti-capitalist Philippe Puteaux and former President François Hollande, who within a few days was able to agree on a program and nominations.

This alliance also gained the support of former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin (1997-2002), who saw it as the only “fortress” capable of containing the National Rally .

But this coalition must still be convinced that it is capable of resisting the heterogeneity of its components, as the dominant force on the left is the “France Proud” party (radical left), which refused to re-nominate representatives who criticized the approach of party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the former candidate for the presidential elections.

Mélenchon said, “ Nominations for life do not exist,If you think I should not be prime minister, I will not be,” and he appeared to be reconciled with himself about his candidacy for the position of prime minister, which many do not want.

Another nomination of a close associate of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Adrien Catnance, the outgoing MP for the North who was sentenced in 2022 to a four-month suspended prison sentence on charges of domestic violence, raised the astonishment of partners of the radical left. On Sunday, Adrian Catnans announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy.

In Emmanuel Macron's camp, after the defeat in the European elections that saw the National Rally lead by a large margin and the surprise dissolution of the National Assembly, there are attempts at remobilization led by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

Regarding purchasing power , which is the first concern of the French, Attal promised on Saturday several measures in the event of victory, such as reducing electricity bills by 15% “as of next winter” or increasing the amount of the bonus known as “Macron” that companies can pay to their employees.

For his part, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire warned on Sunday against raising the monthly minimum wage to 1,600 net euros, as proposed by the left, which, according to him, would lead to “ massive unemployment .”

On the left side, after a week that witnessed developments following the individual choice of its president, Eric Cioti, to ally with the National Rally Party, the party is trying as much as possible to maintain an independent line from the executive authority as well as the extreme right.