Scholz exchanges daily text messages with Macron
Typically, government heads avoid commenting on elections in other countries. However, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is making an exception in the case of France. A victory for the right-wing populists would be disheartening, Scholz stated. He currently writes SMS messages to Macron daily, Scholz said at the summer festival of the parliamentary left of the SPD in Berlin. "We discuss the situation, which is indeed quite disheartening."
Macron had called for a new parliamentary election after the loss in the European election. In the first round, the far-right Rassemblement National of Marine Le Pen was the strongest force, followed by a new left-wing alliance and President Macron's centrist camp. However, the composition of the National Assembly will only be decided in the decisive second round of voting on the coming Sunday.
Although Chancellor Scholz usually keeps out of democratic elections in other countries, he took a clear stance for the second round: "I, for one, will be voting to prevent the French, whom I love and respect, and the country that means so much to me, from having a government led by a right-wing populist party," Scholz said.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal called for a "diverse National Assembly, with various political forces represented." However, it is essential to prevent an absolute majority of the far-right Rassemblement National, Attal said at a campaign event. In many constituencies, it is therefore necessary to vote for a political rival instead of the candidate from one's own camp, he explained. This does not mean supporting the political goals of the rival, for example, if supporters of the Macron camp voted for left-wing alliance candidates to block the extreme right.
According to the latest reports, there will be over 210 tactical alliances in more than 577 electoral districts. This means that third-place candidates from the left-wing alliance or the government camp will withdraw their candidacy in these districts to allow the other camp to win and prevent a victory for the far-right. According to a preliminary count by the newspaper "Le Parisien," there will be about 215 such cases.
The campaign coordinator of the Left Party, Manuel Bompard, ruled out a government coalition of his party with the presidential camp in an interview with the BFMTV broadcaster. "Our representatives will only govern to implement their own program." RN leader Marine Le Pen confirmed her claim to want to form a government with an absolute majority. "We want to govern so that things are clear," she told the France Inter radio station.
Despite Chancellor Scholz's daily communications with Emmanuel Macron, the conversation topics have become significantly more somber due to the looming second-round elections in France. Should Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National win a majority, Scholz expressed his concerns, stating, "We must prevent a government led by a right-wing populist party in a country that holds such significance to Germany and me personally."
