Paris (France) (AFP) – The Renaissance presidential candidate Gabriel Attal, left behind in the polls by Édouard Philippe in the center and right, considered on Monday a primary of this camp "inevitable", despite the refusal of the mayor of Le Havre to comply with the exercise.
Published on: 02/11/2026 - 08:31
“It may take a little more time for some to finally realize what is happening in the country and in French politics,” commented the former Prime Minister on TF1.
“But in the end, I believe that this primary will take place and I believe that it is inevitable” to avoid a second round between Marine Le Pen (RN) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI), he added.
Opposed for months to this method of tie-breaking, Édouard Philippe (Horizons) reaffirmed his position on Sunday, a few days after the proposal launched by his competitor Gabriel Attal, seeing in it "a primary of division" and "confusion".
He invited his rivals to take their “responsibilities” in February, suggesting that he would do it himself. “If the French definitely want to move on, well, listen, I will draw the consequences,” assured the mayor of Le Havre.
“The division is not the primary,” replied Gabriel Attal, “the division is getting to five in the first round” of the presidential election.
“The cataclysm that this second round between Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen would constitute is much more serious than the differences that may exist between me and other candidates,” he added.
According to him, “withdrawals and withdrawal negotiations behind the store” are “what disgusts the French”. Especially, he clarified, that when a candidate is tested alone in the polls immediately, "he is not even in the second round, whether it is Édouard Philippe or whether it is me".
The boss of Modem François Bayrou and the president of the association of mayors of France David Lisnard also call for the organization of a primary from the center and the right. LR candidate Bruno Retailleau is not against it but puts conditions on the perimeter.
© 2026 AFP
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