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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Lili Bayer in Brussels

French PM says ‘no place for violence and intimidation’ after candidate attacked putting up election posters – as it happened

French prime minister Gabriel Attal.
French prime minister Gabriel Attal. Photograph: Blondet Eliot/ABACA/REX/Shutterstock

Summary of the day

  • The French interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, said some 30,000 police will be deployed across France late on Sunday following the second round of elections to ensure there is no trouble.

  • Late last night, the French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, said candidate Prisca Thevenot – the government spokesperson – and members of her campaign team were attacked by four individuals while putting up election posters. “Violence and intimidation have no place in our democracy,” he said.

  • Today, Thevenot thanked law enforcement and said “violence is never the answer.”

  • The French prosecutor’s office said it opened an investigation into an assault with a weapon against a public official.

  • A new poll from Ifop shows that 47% of voters believe the far right National Rally will win an absolute majority of seats in Sunday’s election.

  • The far right National Rally’s Marine Le Pen argued her party can still win an absolute majority. “I think there is still the capacity to have an absolute majority with the electorate turning out in a final effort to get what they want,” she said.

  • Raphaël Glucksmann, who led the French Socialist-Place Publique list in the European elections, has cautioned against a belief that “we have saved things” already and called for urgency to defeat the far right.

  • The Ecologists’ Marine Tondelier has criticised the far right National Rally’s Jordan Bardella, arguing that his party is allowing some candidates who made racist, anti-Semitic and misogynistic comments to remain on the ballot.

Some 30,000 police will be deployed across France late on Sunday following the second round of elections to ensure there is no trouble, a minister said, Reuters reported.

The interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, said he would be “very careful” about security on Sunday evening.

Some 5,000 of the 30,000 police deployed that evening will be located in Paris and its surroundings, and they will “ensure that the radical right and radical left do not take advantage of the situation to cause mayhem”, he told France 2 TV.

The Ecologists’ Marine Tondelier has criticised the far right National Rally’s Jordan Bardella, arguing that his party is allowing some candidates who made racist, anti-Semitic and misogynistic comments to remain on the ballot.

Updated

The French prosecutor’s office said it opened an investigation into an assault with a weapon against a public official, after government spokesperson and candidate Prisca Thevenot and her team were attacked yesterday, the Associated Press reported.

The office provided no indication of what the motivation of the attack was, according to the AP.

Thevenot was reportedly not injured but her deputy and a party activist were taken to a hospital.

Updated

Prisca Thevenot, the government spokesperson and candidate who was attacked yesterday as she was campaigning with her team, has thanked law enforcement.

“Violence is never the answer,” she said.

French voters face choice of least worst option in high-stakes election

At a market in Meyzieu, a small commune on the outskirts of Lyon, Kheira Vermorel eyed a box filled with potatoes, wondering if the sizeable spuds would be enough to soothe tensions at home.

For weeks – specifically since France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, plunged the country into shock snap elections – she and her husband had been at odds. “It’s been really hard,” she said. “I’m worried it might lead to a divorce.”

At the heart of their weeks-long dispute was the forthcoming ballot. Last election Vermorel, who moved to France from Algeria 35 years ago, voted for Macron. This time, however, she was convinced that it was time to give the political class a shake by casting her vote for the far-right, anti-immigrant National Rally (RN).

“Politicians don’t show up, they talk, they always promise things but nothing happens,” said the 54-year-old. She waved off the widespread concerns about the party’s policies that target Muslims, citing how she, a practising Muslim, had learned to balance her fate with France’s secularism.

Her French husband, however, was vehemently opposed to the party’s hardline stance on immigrants. “He tells me: ‘If migrants are here, it’s because they don’t have any other choice,’” she said, citing those who live on the streets. “And he says if they’re in that situation, it’s because they’ve lost everything.”

Read the full story here.

47% of voters believe National Rally will get absolute majority: poll

A new poll from Ifop shows that 47% of voters believe the far right National Rally will win an absolute majority of seats in Sunday’s election.

15% said “certainly” and 32% said “probably”.

Updated

Marine Le Pen has said that there are unacceptable comments from some National Rally candidates which will lead to sanctions but that some comments are blunders.

“If I’m on CNEWS this morning, it’s because on Sunday every vote will count to prevent Jordan Bardella from entering Matignon,” the Ecologists’ Marine Tondelier said this morning.

“I would like to address myself to listeners many of whom, a priori, do not agree with me.”

CNews is part of the Canal+ group owned by the billionaire industrialist Vincent Bolloré. Critics have described it as the “French Fox News” and its debate shows often focus on issues such as immigration and crime.

Updated

'Violence and intimidation have no place in our democracy', prime minister says

Late last night, the French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, said candidate Prisca Thevenot – the government spokesperson – and members of her campaign team were attacked by four individuals while putting up election posters.

“Violence and intimidation have no place in our democracy,” he said. “They have no place in our Republic,” he added, expressing his solidarity with the candidate and her team.

Jordan Bardella, leader of the far right National Rally, expressed support for Thevenot and for Marie Dauchy, a far right candidate who yesterday said she was attacked and suspending her campaign.

Don't lose urgency, left wing politician says warning far right could still win absolute majority

Raphaël Glucksmann, who led the French Socialist-Place Publique list in the European elections, has cautioned against a belief that “we have saved things” already.

Speaking on France Inter, Glucksmann said there’s “extreme urgency” to prevent a victory of the far right this Sunday and that withdrawals do not automatically mean a defeat for the National Rally.

Welcome to the blog

Good morning and welcome back to the Europe blog, where we will be focusing today on the latest in the French election campaign.

Send your comments to lili.bayer@theguardian.com.

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