{"id":32132,"date":"2024-06-24T16:41:17","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T20:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/macron-says-extreme-opposition-parties-would-cause-civil-war\/24\/06\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-06-24T16:41:17","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T20:41:17","slug":"macron-says-extreme-opposition-parties-would-cause-civil-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/macron-says-extreme-opposition-parties-would-cause-civil-war\/24\/06\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Macron Says Extreme Opposition Parties Would Cause Civil War"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(Bloomberg) — President Emmanuel Macron<\/a><\/span><\/span> said the agendas of the far-right and far-left blocs in France\u2019s upcoming legislative elections pit the country\u2019s people against each other, going so far as to say that \u201cextreme\u201d parties could spark a \u201ccivil war.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The far-right National Rally\u2019s plan to deal with crime and insecurity \u201crefers to people of a religion or an origin \u2014 it divides and it leads to civil war,\u201d Macron said in an interview with a G\u00e9n\u00e9ration Do It Yourself podcast aired Monday evening. The far-left France Unbowed that\u2019s part of a hastily cobbled alliance is also peddling sectarian politics that would provoke similar hostilities, he said.<\/p>\n

The increasingly strident comments from Macron\u2019s camp reflect a last-ditch attempt to woo voters as his centrist party trails behind the National Rally and the leftist New Popular Front in the polls with less than a week before the first round of voting. One pollster even suggested the far-right party could clinch an absolute majority in the National Assembly, though France\u2019s two-round voting system makes forecasting tricky.<\/p>\n

In the days after Macron\u2019s surprise call for an election to renew the National Assembly two weeks ago, his allies have taken to the air waves to speak of the dangers of the far right or the far left coming into power. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said a government by Marine Le Pen\u2019s National Rally would harm \u201ccivil peace,\u201d without providing any evidence to support his claim. He has also warned that both the far-right and the left would be disastrous for the economy.<\/p>\n

Opposition parties have accused Macron and his allies of fear mongering to spook voters. The head of the French Unbowed party, Jean-Luc Melenchon, on Monday rejected Macron\u2019s \u201ccivil war\u201d comment, saying it\u2019s the president who tends to divide the French.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always around when it comes to setting fires,\u201d he said, alluding to recent political tensions in France\u2019s overseas territory of New Caledonia.<\/p>\n

Comments from Macron\u2019s party have done little to halt the rise of the National Rally and the alliance of the left in the polls. Le Pen\u2019s party would win the first round of the French legislative election with 36%, according to latest Ifop-Fiducial poll of voting intentions published Monday. The alliance of left-wing parties would get 29.5%, while Macron\u2019s group would get 20.5%.<\/p>\n

Investors dumped French assets in the days after Macron\u2019s call for the vote, fretting over how a new government could further stretch the country\u2019s budget deficit. The turmoil pushed the risk premium on French bonds versus German ones to the highest since 2012 last week, though that spread narrowed slightly on Monday.<\/p>\n

The first round of the election is set for June 30, with the second round slated for July 7. Macron, who called for the vote after his party was crushed in the European Parliament election, seemed to acknowledge in the podcast that his group may face a loss in the ballot.<\/p>\n

National Rally leader Jordan Bardella has been working to assuage voters that he can be trusted overseeing the country\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

On Monday, he outlined the party\u2019s plan to pay for a reduction in sales tax on energy and fuel \u2014 \u2013 which would cost \u20ac7 billion ($7.5 billion) a year \u2013 by cutting France\u2019s contribution to the EU budget, closing tax advantages for shipping firms and boosting levies on the profits of energy companies.<\/p>\n

The National Rally \u201cis the only movement to implement immediately and reasonably the expectations of French people. In three words: we are ready,\u201d he said. \u201cWe aim to bring the country back to budgetary reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most pollsters predict that the National Rally will form the largest group in the National Assembly but fall short of the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority. The latest survey by Odoxa predicts the party will get between 250 to 300 seats.<\/p>\n

This scenario \u2014 where National Rally wins the most seats in the legislature but falls short of an absolute majority \u2014 would likely inflict gridlock on the lower house, meaning any ambitious legislation or reform would be difficult to pass.<\/p>\n

Get Bloomberg\u2019s coverage of the French election in your inbox by signing up to our newsletter, The Paris Edition. Terminal users can sign up here. If you\u2019re reading this online, this is the link you need.<\/p>\n

Macron justified his call for a vote, saying there was a lot of seething anger in France and that he wanted the country\u2019s people to have \u201ca voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be nobody\u2019s fault the evening of the second round; it will be the responsibility of the French people,\u201d he said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s not a bet, it\u2019s confidence\u201d in the voters, he added.<\/p>\n

(Updates with comment from Melenchon in 5th and 6th paragraphs.)<\/p>\n

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(Bloomberg) — President Emmanuel Macron said the agendas of the far-right and far-left blocs in France’s upcoming legislative elections pit the country’s