Violence of October 17: Retailleau asks the executive to change the date of the second round of the presidential election, set for the day after May 1

Bruno Retailleau has the merit of consistency. At the beginning of July, when the government set the presidential election for April 18 and May 2, 2027, the Republican candidate fulminated against a choice that was “not neutral” and “not democratically normal.” The reason, according to him: the sincerity of the second round could be tainted by the Labor Day parades, organized the day before, where the union and political left are accustomed to beating the streets. “Few May 1sts go by calmly. There is always an increase in pressure and sometimes with excesses,” argued the former Minister of the Interior, denouncing a “strategy of chaos”.

Three and a half months later, the logic remains the same, but it is now supported by facts: the violence of a rare magnitude which struck the country on October 17 and, to a lesser extent, on the 18th. Scenes of looting and breakage observed in several cities, which the Vendée senator seized to advance his pawns. Guest of BFMTV on Monday, the boss of LR did not mince his words on the holding of the final duel on May 2, the day after May 1. A “bad” date, according to him, because such “exactions”, the day before and until the morning of the vote, could disrupt the smooth running of the vote.

Also read 2027 Presidential Election: in the aftermath of the riots, the RN wants to embody the “party of order”

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For him, it is the very spirit of the election that is at stake. “Do you realize? It is completely contrary to the idea that we have in democracies of organizations, of votes, in particular of ballots,” he said, while “the expression of democracy deserves calm, deserves serenity.” “Do the French (…) who have seen this sad, shameful spectacle of a humiliated France, of a France pillaged, ransacked, see the risk of organizing a second round?” he asked himself. “If we wanted to mess up the second round, we wouldn’t do it any differently,” he snapped, assuming not only to “question” the date of May 2, but also to call on Emmanuel Macron and Sébastien Lecornu to change it. Especially since to hear it, “there would still be time”.

It remains to be understood why the executive opted for this Sunday, rather than the only other option permitted by the Constitution: a vote on April 11 and 25, which would however have encroached on school holidays. In July, Bruno Retailleau affirmed that the government had consulted the various candidates before making its choice, but that it had ultimately chosen “the left”. On Monday, he went further, assuring that “the majority of political parties at this meeting had recommended against that date.” “Why did we consciously choose (…)?” he insisted, saying he was “still stunned”.