“Can you imagine the political tension? »: for Darmanin, there are no reasons to change the date of the presidential election

“We are 200 days away from the presidential election,” recalls Gérald Darmanin. Unless the dates change... Six months before the election, several candidates in the race for the Élysée are pushing for a modification of the dates decided by Emmanuel Macron.

The reason? The second round will take place on May 2, 2027, the day after the May 1 demonstrations, a day traditionally marked by union mobilizations.

The executive has already indicated that “there is no reason to change these dates”. However, the question continues to be debated. On the front line to demand change, LR candidate Bruno Retailleau joined by PS candidate Raphaël Glucksmann.

This little music displeases Gérald Darmanin. The Minister of Justice and supporter of the Horizons candidate Édouard Philippe pleaded, this Tuesday, November 3 on BFMTV, for maintaining the dates as they were recorded by the Head of State.

“Within a constrained constitutional deadline, we cannot take just any dates,” he warned. As a reminder, Article 7 of the Constitution imposes a deadline for the organization of the first round between 20 and 35 days before the expiration of the powers of the President of the Republic.

The other dates mentioned - April 11 and 25, 2027 - are a "school vacation period", recalls the Minister of Justice who wishes to "take care that people can vote".

Gérald Darmanin then projects himself onto the hypothesis according to which Marine Le Pen or Jean-Luc Mélenchon comes to power. “Let’s imagine that Madame Le Pen is elected or that Monsieur Mélenchon is elected. For ten days, it will still be the government of Emmanuel Macron (…) which no longer has political legitimacy, which handles current affairs”, and which would find itself managing this day of May 1. “Can you imagine the political tension? », he asks.

However, candidates for the presidential election are not giving up and are campaigning for a change in these dates. Like Raphaël Glucksmann. On BFMTV on November 2, the Socialist Party candidate estimated that “given the state of polarization, given the state of hatred, given the state of violence in society”, it “would actually be smart to change the date of the election”.

Rare enough to be underlined, Bruno Retailleau, but also Louis Aliot made the same request as the social democratic candidate. “The neutrality and serenity which must prevail before the Sunday vote will necessarily be broken by the holding of May 1st demonstrations throughout France, which we know are the prerogative of the CGT and all left-wing trade union and activist organizations,” indicated the vice-president of the National Rally.

The candidate and boss of the Republicans denounces: “Don’t let me believe that in the processions, in the positions taken, there will be no political echo. The choice of the government was the choice of the left because the left thinks that a second round after May 1 will benefit it.”

If the executive insists that a change of dates is not on the agenda, the law allows the “decree of convocation” of voters to be published no later than 10 weeks before the election date. Or January 31, if he finally decided to favor April 11 and 25.

Constitutionalist Benjamin Morel recalls that the dates do not depend on Emmanuel Macron. “We have a calendar constraint, predictable since the death of Pompidou,” he explains. “These two pairs of dates are problematic, because there is a lot of time between the presidential election and the entry into office of the next tenant of the Élysée.”

Another point which must be taken into account according to the constitutionalist, “the delay with a possible dissolution would be three weeks, which leaves a lot of time between the presidential election and the legislative elections”. Conclusion according to the constitutionalist: “There are only bad solutions”.