The Meetings of the Future in Saint-Raphaël had a taste of immediacy. Less than six months before the first round of the presidential election, the main candidates from the right and the center met this weekend in the South-East to debate the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), debt and growth. But, in the background, it is the subject of the organization of a primary to decide between candidates who are struggling in the polls which has fueled all the comments. On site, David Lisnard, the popular mayor of Cannes, added more on the organization of this tie-breaking method which he considers essential to avoid the hypothesis of a duel between Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “Given the polls, perhaps Édouard Philippe will be in a primary soon,” summarized the Nouvelle Énergie candidate on the sidelines of the event devoted to major contemporary issues.
The different candidates did not confront each other directly on stage but each other's positions were clear; at stake, the constitution of a tacit front in favor of a primary. “Given the state of the applications, I tell myself that at some point, we still have to find a tie-breaking method. So I'm not rushing into the primary. I tell myself that we will see that at the start of the year,” explained the Republican candidate, Bruno Retailleau, until now opposed in principle but losing ground in the polls. In the absence of an imminent primary, the conditions of which would remain to be defined, he proposes “between now and December, that we hold three debates”, on “purchasing power”, “regalien” and on “more societal” subjects. And to conclude: “An election is a comparison.”
The general secretary of the CGT Sophie Binet and the president of the CFTC Cyril Chabanier spoke of a series of measures which are “not up to the anger” this Monday, November 9 ahead of a social conference organized by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu with the unions and employers in Matignon.
“We need adequate answers, we are not here for a Yellow Coins operation, we are not here to beg, we demand respect for our rights,” declared Sophie Binet.
To try to regain control, an appointment is made at Matignon. Will a very solemn “social conference” allow the government to quell the anger that has been spreading in the streets of the country for a month? Sébastien Lecornu, who wrote directly to union and employer organizations to promise them “answers” to the “concerns” expressed about purchasing power, hopes so despite the absence of cartridges in his bag. At the heart of the debate, an increase in the minimum wage demanded by the unions (from 100 euros net for the CFDT to 150 euros for the CGT). “We can increase it provided we do not harm employment,” the Minister of Labor, Jean-Pierre Farandou, has already warned in La Tribune Dimanche. “If a revaluation were to be made, it would be important that it could cross the 1,500 euros net mark,” he added, paving the way for a minimum increase of 22 euros. “This social conference is likely to be disappointing given the lack of room for maneuver. I have a hard time seeing the unions come out declaring victory at a 1.6% increase in the minimum wage,” anticipates a former Macronist parliamentarian.
“The government is facing discontent which is not unfounded but the budgetary peak path is very narrow,” says the senator and president of the UDI, Hervé Marseille. “It’s the next government that will pay. It’s a poker game with a promise that only binds those who receive it,” he points out. “Nothing powerful enough will come out of this,” insists a central bloc leader without delay. Especially since the employers' organizations have their foot on the brake. “The increase in the minimum wage should result exclusively from a discussion between social partners. It’s not up to the government to set it,” squeaks Édouard Philippe, questioned on Friday by readers of La Provence.
To each left its day. The day after Jean-Luc Mélenchon's big meeting at Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis), transformed into a show of force, with nearly 20,000 supporters, according to the organizers, his social-democrat competitor took over the political-media field. Already on the offensive in La Tribune Dimanche, where he accuses the leader of the Insoumis of having established “a climate of brutality and harassment”, provoking “hostility” towards him – even in the November 5 demonstration against the high cost of living, where he was heckled before having to leave –, Raphaël Glucksmann returned to the charge. Guest of the “Grand Oral BFMTV-Le Figaro”, the MEP recalled that his “place is alongside the workers” and that he will return to the processions “every time”, his presence being according to him “natural” and “logical”.
Behind the “names of birds”, the essayist sees above all the consequence of his strategy of breaking with LFI. “We are going to rebuild the democratic left, we are in the process of doing it, we are putting an end to the cultural, ideological and political hegemony of Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the French left, and they cannot stand it,” he assumes, even if it means “paying” the price, “very light”, of militant vindictiveness if “this allows the left to return to power”. Especially since it is not new that Raphaël Glucksmann, suspected by the radical left of being too centrist, is persona non grata in the street. This is evidenced by his forced departure from the May 1, 2024 parade in Saint-Étienne, where, then head of the PS-Place publique European list, he was attacked and sprayed with paint.
Interviewed on France Inter on Monday, November 9, Thierry Breton, former European Commissioner for the Internal Market and former French Minister of the Economy, does not close the door to a potential candidacy for the 2027 presidential election. Evoking a very fragmented political landscape, with a center that is still too uncertain, he confides, regarding a possible candidacy: “We will see what emerges. My strongest wish is that there is a candidate who emerges, and if there is none, we will see.”
The former Minister of the Economy calls for distrust of Donald Trump who, after the defeat of the Republicans in the midterms on November 3, will try to find a “scapegoat”. Donald Trump “considers Europe as a weak link that he wants to destroy by relying on far-right forces,” he warns.
Candidate for the presidential election, François Ruffin raised the possibility of a second round opposing Marine Le Pen to Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “If I thought that Jean-Luc Mélenchon had a chance of beating Marine Le Pen in the second round, I would already be in his campaign,” he said on LCI.
The former Insoumis regrets the absence of a providential man or woman on the left involved in the presidential campaign. “We’re not there, far from it,” he regretted.
François Ruffin also warns of the possible election of the RN candidate next May. “There is a train of fate that brings Marine Le Pen to the Élysée. The arrival station is getting closer and closer,” he said.
“An immense setback on the democratic level.” Guest of CNews/Europe 1, the vice-president of the Republicans François-Xavier Bellamy criticized Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s “L’Avenir en commun” program.
“When he reveals his program, at least it’s clear. Jean-Luc Mélenchon does not hide, he has the merit of not hiding,” declared François-Xavier Bellamy, who believes that the proposals of the four-time candidate for the presidential election are a “return to the old ideas of collectivism which have destroyed so many countries and condemned so many societies to impoverishment”.
The support of Bruno Retailleau ensures that “Jean-Luc Mélenchon is lying to his voters”.
A presidential candidate for almost a month, journalist Natacha Polony, who is stagnating between 1 and 1.5% in the polls, assures that “progress will happen”. And claims on BFM Business almost “200 sponsorships” out of the 500 necessary. The essayist is betting on the “collapse” of the candidates from the right and the center: “They are proposing the continuation of the policies pursued for 30 years,” she mocks.
Faced with social anger, the former director of the weekly Marianne pleads for “an increase in all salaries” and the reduction of tax loopholes. The Elysian contender refuses any participation in a possible primary of the right of the center, with “those who failed in Macronism”.
Reliability of information, independence of editorial staff, protection against AI... The NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Monday set out ten priorities to “defend press freedom”, asking for “concrete commitments” from presidential candidates.
“With its ten proposals, RSF intends to confront candidates with their responsibilities and encourage them to go beyond declarations of principle to present precise commitments,” RSF indicated in a press release, wishing to make the right to information a “central issue of the campaign”.
The first proposal is to “make the right to reliable information the great national cause in 2027”.
RSF also wants to “promote access to information”. This could involve the creation of a “media pass” for 15-24 year olds, based on the culture pass model, which allows young people to benefit from credit to finance cultural purchases.
The NGO also wishes to strengthen anti-concentration measures, for example by establishing a threshold “of capacity to influence public opinion, assessed on the scale of all media controlled by the same actor”.
RSF also calls for “effective guarantees of independence” of editorial offices in the face of “interference from owners”, and a strengthening of the protection of the secrecy of journalists’ sources. The organization also wants social networks and artificial intelligence (AI) players to properly pay the media for using their content.
Finally, RSF calls for “sustainably guaranteeing the independence and financing of public broadcasting”. The RN plans to privatize this sector if it comes to power.
“Ranked 25th in the World Press Freedom Index established by RSF in 2026, France has significant gaps in the protection of the right to information,” argues the NGO.
“However, the diagnoses have been made for a long time. The political responses are slow to materialize,” she laments.
Emmanuel Macron's campaign promise, the General Information Conference was launched in October 2023, to provide a broad overview of the issues in the sector and formulate proposals. But these have never been translated into law.
Pressed by many actors from the right and the center to accept the idea of a primary, Édouard Philippe still distances most of his competitors, but sees David Lisnard (Nouvelle Énergie) getting closer.
The mayor of Cannes, dynamic in the polls in recent weeks, is credited with 9% of the votes, three points behind Édouard Philippe (12%) when he is a candidate, and tied with Gabriel Attal (Renaissance) when he embodies the Macronist camp (with in both cases Bruno Retailleau also a candidate).
The boss of LR would collect 5 to 8% of the votes as an LR candidate, and 10% if he were the only candidate from the right and the center.
In the same configuration, Gabriel Attal would have the same score (10%).
Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon continue to lead voting intentions, the first well ahead of the second, while their pursuers Édouard Philippe and Raphaël Glucksmann are losing ground, according to a Harris Interactive poll for M6/RTL published Monday.
In all the hypotheses tested by the institute, the second round of the presidential election would pit Marine Le Pen, credited with 34 to 36% of the votes, against Jean-Luc Mélenchon, between 18 and 19% of the voting intentions.
Both the leader of the Insoumis and the RN candidate continue their momentum, up one to two points in most hypotheses compared to the previous wave from the same institute, published at the end of October.
Conversely, the mayor of Le Havre Édouard Philippe (Horizons), once neck and neck with Jean-Luc Mélenchon for access to the second round, is now well behind: credited with 11 to 14% of the votes, five to seven points now separate him from the LFI candidate.
The social democratic candidate Raphaël Glucksmann also sees his momentum slowing down, stagnating or declining slightly with 11 to 13% of voting intentions.
