Develop a strategy to keep your seat at the Palais-Bourbon, open a campaign account or run to the printer for leaflets… Whatever their political camp, elected officials who are preparing to put their mandate on the line are under pressure. the shock, but ready to put on the blue again.
“I feel like the day after dissolution”, sighs Benoît Bordat, outgoing Renaissance deputy for Côte-d’Or, on this rather special Monday, June 10. Elected for the first time in 2022, his mandate will have lasted only two years, instead of the five planned. Sunday evening, the President of the Republic took the country by surprise, even his own camp, by announcing the dissolution of the National Assembly and the holding of early legislative elections from June 30 and July 7. A reaction to the historic breakthrough of the National Rally and the scathing defeat of the Renaissance list in the European elections. “My colleagues are very shaken, this is the hardest part for them. They are all out of work now, says Benoît Bordat. We knew we were in ejection seats.”
Since the loss of the absolute majority in June 2022, the specter of dissolution has lurked in the corridors of the Palais-Bourbon. But no one expected that the ax would fall on Sunday evening, when the presidential camp had continued to repeat that this election should not be made a national issue. “There is an error in the timing, just before the Olympics. It would have been better during the budget texts in the fall,” confides the outgoing MoDem MP Delphine Lingemann, who even denounces “a lack of respect for parliamentarians and our teams”. “It’s a hangover for sure, I still can’t understand the logic, but maybe he’s right”book, bitter, Ludovic Mendes, Renaissance MP outgoing from Moselle.
“For a deputy, the decision taken by the President of the Republic is violent. Since Sunday midnight, we are no longer a deputy and we no longer have anything.”
Ludovic Mendes, outgoing Renaissance MPat franceinfo
In the opposition too, many have let themselves be surprised, whatever the political side. “I knew that the dissolution would happen, that the president would be in a dead end. But for him to do that at that moment, I’m not going to tell you that I anticipated it”concedes elected LR Fabien Di Filippo. “We may have been caught off guard at the time of the announcement, but it’s a campaign like any other”wants to believe Aurélien Lopez-Liguori, outgoing RN deputy. The extremely high score of the far-right party in the European elections (31.4%) gives very high hopes to Marine Le Pen’s supporters.
Opposite, the ecologist Sandra Regol is not angry. “We are all stunned. A few days ago, during the commemorations of the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, people said: ‘Never again’. A few days later, the President of the Republic practically offered France to Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen . This is unheard of.” The organization of this three-week express campaign also angers the now ex-vice-president of the environmental group in the Assembly. “We lived with the sword of Damocles of dissolution. But this is the worst scenario.”
“Emmanuel Macron took the shortest deadline. What debates and ideas do we have time to broadcast in twenty days?”
Sandra Regol, outgoing green MPat franceinfo
According to article 12 of the Constitution, Emmanuel Macron had a period of twenty to forty days to call new elections. So he opted for the tighter option. Sandra Regol is not the only one to rail against the choice of the Elysée. “There is the violence of the dissolution, but to this is added the context that is imposed on us, namely three weeks to campaign.is a marathon that you are asked to run at the pace of a 400 meter“castigates Fabien Di Filippo. “Everyone is caught off guard in the organization. It’s very short, but we’re going to do it. We have to put the heating blue back on, even if, personally, I’ve never taken it off”confides Benjamin Saint-Huile, outgoing Liot MP.
From Sunday evening, the deputies, deprived of their mandate, tackled the mountain of tasks that awaits them to campaign in a very short period of time. First, end their mandate and close the page of this 16th legislature. We thus pick up Aurélien Lopez-Liguori in the middle of moving his boxes to the Assembly. Not much time to talk to the press. “We purge what we have to purge. I terminated the contracts of my collaborators,” explains Ludovic Mendes for his part. “We are waiting for instructions from the Assembly to see what we can do or not, explains at length Pascal Lavergne, outgoing Renaissance deputy in Gironde. I have already recreated a campaign mailbox to no longer use that of the Assembly and I broke the lease for my deputy office to make a campaign office contract.”
Because we must plan ahead without delay on logistics. “The first thing to do was to see if my deputy would leave with me, and that is the case. And then, there are very prosaic details, like opening a campaign account and appointing a financial agent,” relates Fabien Di Filippo. “Given the deadlines, my first concern is finding paper”says Benoît Bordat.
“I’m struggling with my printer to find paper for election propaganda. The printers didn’t foresee the dissolution!”
Benoît Bordat, outgoing Renaissance MPat franceinfo
He also contacted a photographer for new campaign photos. “I’m waiting for the new national slogan [du parti] but we start again with the same posters. I’m keeping the photo, I haven’t aged too much in two years”laughs Pascal Lavergne.
None of the outgoing deputies contacted by franceinfo have decided to throw in the towel and not run again. “I went from fear at the moment of the announcement of the results and the dissolution to an extraordinary combativenesssays Sandra Regol. I was exhausted, my back was damaged by a bad fall, but I hold on to one thing: if we don’t go all out, it’s democracy, the values of our Republic, which will be violated.” . She adds, her voice determined: “It’s half rage and half stupidity. I want to fight it out.” Narrowly elected two years ago (51.7%) against an RN candidate, Benjamin Saint-Huile targets far-right voters. “I am fully responsible for speaking to all voters and those who sent a message of anger,” he said.
Alongside the practical details, these outgoing MPs must also think about a campaign strategy that is very different from the one they led two years ago. First there is the disrupted national context on which some will play. Delphine Lingemann, elected for the MoDem with 116 votes in advance against a Nupes candidate, essentially evokes the fight against the RN in a department where Jordan Bardella made nearly 30% on Sunday. “Today, it is no longer a question of giving a majority to the president, but a Republican majority in the countryshe says. I want to do a project against project campaign to show the emptiness of the RN program.”
“I told myself that I could not leave the constituency in the hands of the RN. We are therefore not going to give up, even if the fight promises to be difficult.”
Delphine Lingemann, outgoing MoDem MPat franceinfo
And the future candidate of pester: “I’m going to have in front of me a candidate who will come out of the hat. We’re going to see someone who doesn’t know the territory and who, because he will have the photo of Bardella and Marine Le Pen on his poster, I’m going to make a score. It pisses me off.” On the side of the National Rally, we intend to surf on the electoral context very favorable to the far-right party. “We need to seek out European voters, mobilize our base, expand,” ensures Aurélien Lopez-Liguori.
But many candidates will mainly focus on local issues and rely on their record to hope to win again. “I’m going to sell myself”, slips Ludovic Mendes. For the presidential camp, it is a question of making people forget the catastrophic score of Renaissance in the European elections. “I have a local record, I come back to the voters with my head held high,” assures Pascal Lavergne. “Normally, at this time, we take stock of the year [avant la fin des travaux parlementaires pour l’été]. Here, I will condense what I did in two years”engages Benoît Bordat.
Everyone will now use every minute that passes to meet voters. “I’m going to run around until I die.”, summarizes Fabien Di Filippo. Next step: submit their application to the prefecture before June 16.