France: Justice Minister Darmanin decides not to run for president

Eight months before the presidential election in France, the field of candidates from the center-right camp is clearing up: Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin has decided not to run for office and wants to support former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe. “It is in the general interest not to increase the number of candidacies,” said Darmanin in an interview with the newspaper La Voix du Nord published on Monday evening. Darmanin warned of a runoff election of extremes: The danger of a duel between the right-wing populist Marine Le Pen and the left-wing populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon is great, he said.

Darmanin said he considers Le Pen a “far more dangerous candidate” than the Rassemblement National (RN) party leader Jordan Bardella. The 30-year-old Bardella had been preparing for months to run in the event that Le Pen was prevented from running by the judiciary. At the beginning of July, an appeals court sentenced the RN parliamentary group leader to three years in prison for embezzling EU funds, two of which were on probation and one year under electronically monitored house arrest.

The sentence is currently suspended and Le Pen has lodged an appeal. The process is not expected to be completed before the presidential election in April and May.

There is still no agreement in the left camp

Philippe was prime minister from 2017 to 2020 and later founded his own party that supports the presidential camp. In surveys, the 55-year-old was recently 14 to 16 percent behind Le Pen, who has 34 to 36 percent. He is therefore roughly on a par with Mélenchon.

The left-wing camp has not yet agreed on a common candidate. The best chances are given to EU MP Raphaël Glucksmann. But the socialist former president François Hollande is also interested in running. Incumbent Emmanuel Macron is not allowed to run again immediately after two terms in office.

The first round of the presidential election in France will take place on April 18, 2027, with the second round two weeks later on May 2.