French far-right fights for poll nomination
Zemmour and Le Pen’s efforts to unseat Macron in presidential election under threat at first hurdle
HARD-RIGHT French presidential candidates Eric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen are at risk of not qualifying for the elections as local mayors and MPS refuse to back them amid fears of a public backlash.
Despite polling in second and third place behind President Emmanuel Macron, the candidates are significantly short of the signatures they need in order to stand in the April 10 vote.
Candidates require the support of 500 mayors, MPS or senators under French election rules. However, this year, for the first time, local officials are being forced to publicly declare who they are nominating and that has left some reluctant to support more extreme candidates.
Although the nominations are not supposed to signal formal support, some mayors admit they fear being labelled racist for their choices, while others have raised fears that local funding could be cut off if they select the “wrong” candidate.
Ms Le Pen, who reached the second round in the presidential election in 2017, has suspended her political campaign to focus on getting the signatures.
“If you don’t help me, millions of voters will be deprived of an election,” Ms Le Pen pleaded on Twitter
Ms Le Pen currently has 393 signatures to her name, while Mr Zemmour has 350. Jean-luc Melénchon, the hard-left candidate, is also struggling on 442.
Candidates only have 10 days left in which to collect the required 500 signatures from any of the 42,000 elected officials in order to stand.
Signatures have always been difficult to get for hard-right candidates but it is the first time that such types of referrals are being made public after the rules were updated under the socialist former president François Hollande.
A spokesman from Ms Le Pen’s camp added: “The entire staff is on the ground or on the phone to look for our last 40 sponsorships.”
One local councillor of 36 years, who asked to remain anonymous, said mayors are reluctant to provide signatures to candidates with whom they do not share values.
“We’ve seen the changes in the make-up of the residents and we’ve been called racist before for decisions unrelated to sponsorships,” they said. Other mayors fear that central support for the funding of infrastructure, schools and cultural events will be withdrawn from regional bodies controlled by the mainstream conservative party.
The mainstream Republicans party of Valérie Pécresse holds most seats in parliament, regionally and locally, and so mayors are thought to be extra cautious about publicly backing rival Right-wing candidates.
Jean Castex, France’s prime minister, urged elected officials in parliament on Tuesday to sponsor candidates, saying that this “is not automatically synonymous with political support” but is also “a democratic act”.
“Sponsoring is not supporting,” said Gérard Larcher, president of the Senate. “[Mr Zemmour], [Ms Le Pen], nor [Mr Melénchon…] are no fanciful candidates. If they were unable to show up, it would be a democratic denial.”
So far, seven presidential candidates have enough signatures to be able to run; Mr Macron, Ms Pécresse, socialist Anne Hidalgo, Right-winger Jean Lassalle, communist Fabien Roussel, Nathalie Arthaud of the workers’ party, and Yannick Jadot of the Greens. The latest polls show Mr Macron ahead with 24.5 per cent of intended votes followed by Ms Le Pen (18 per cent), Mr Zemmour (13.5 per cent) and Ms Pécresse (11.5 per cent).
Mr Macron will launch his re-election bid at a campaign rally on March 5, sources in his party said yesterday. The 44-year-old has so far kept away from formal campaigning but the declaration of his candidacy is now expected next week, just ahead of a March 4 deadline. Three sources in his centrist Republic on the Move (LREM) party told AFP his first rally would then be on March 5 in Marseille.
Analysts say low turnout – nearly one in four voters did not cast ballots in the presidential election five years ago – could add a layer of uncertainty to the first-round outcome. Macron’s rivals have accused him of smothering debate on his record by refusing to declare his candidacy until the last minute, and his team indicate that he is unlikely to join debates before of the first round of voting.