Presidential 2027: Despite the refusal of Édouard Philippe, Attal does not budge on the primary

Gabriel Attal continues to believe in a coming together of the center and the right in the race towards the Élysée. Left behind in the polls by Édouard Philippe, the Renaissance presidential candidate insisted on Monday that a primary was “inevitable”, despite the refusal of the mayor of Le Havre to comply with the exercise.

Édouard Philippe wants to wait until February

“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 and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he added.

Opposed for months to this method of tie-breaking, Horizons candidate Édouard Philippe once again ruled out on Sunday "a primary of division" and "confusion", a few days after the proposal launched by his competitor Gabriel Attal. The mayor of Le Havre, on the other hand, invited his rivals to take their “responsibilities” in February, suggesting that he would do it himself: “If the French really want to move on. Well, listen, I will draw the consequences.”

“The division is not the primary,” replied Gabriel Attal. “The division is reaching 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 backroom withdrawal negotiations” are “what disgusts the French”. 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,” he insisted.

Follow the 2027 Presidential Election

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 definition of the perimeter.