French nationalist Éric Zemmour has announced he will not stand as a candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections in France later this month, instead offering his support to the incumbent National Rally (RN) MP seeking re-election in his constituency.
The leader of the populist Reconquête party publicized his decision on social media on Tuesday evening before providing further insight in an interview with CNews.
“I’m telling you this evening that I won’t be standing in the legislative elections because, in my heartland constituency in the Var, there is a Rassemblement National (RN) incumbent and I wouldn’t want to stand in the way of the possible election of an RN MP,” he told the channel.
“I’m not asking for anything,” Zemmour insisted, confirming he did not seek any form of government position or bargaining chip from RN.
He did confirm that other Reconquête politicians would still stand for election across the country after RN refused an electoral pact with the rival right-wing party and instead opted to ally with the center-right Les Républicains (LR).
“We have young people who are sparkling, intelligent, and sincere. We have high-quality people who can take part in this great gathering,” Zemmour added.
The Reconquête leader, whose party’s 5 percent vote share in Sunday’s European elections was dwarfed by the 32 percent amassed by Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen’s RN, explained that he still had “profound disagreements” with the right-wing parties in France but said now was the time to put differences aside to take down President Macron’s government.
“Democracy means accepting these disagreements and being able to form alliances. You don’t make alliances with clones, you make alliances with people who are different,” he told CNews.
He accepted the “obvious disproportionality” in the balance of power on the French Right after RN’s dominating display on Sunday and understood that Le Pen and Bardella could now call the shots; he also reiterated his commitment to supporting a socially conservative government.
“I’m not just a politician or a writer, I’m a French patriot. As the son of an ambulance driver who sees his people dying as a result of crazy immigration, of a Great Replacement, I want to be able to stop this crazy machine,” he concluded.
Zemmour’s deputy in Reconquête and newly elected MEP, Marion Maréchal, had been attempting to agree to an electoral pact with her aunt Marine Le Pen since Sunday, but the proposal was rejected by RN leadership due to concerns about how an alliance with Zemmour would look to swing voters.
Maréchal claimed that the RN leadership had cited its refusal to have “any direct or indirect association” with her party’s leader.
Instead, LR boss Éric Ciotti struck a deal with RN that will see incumbent Republican MPs avoid competition from Le Pen’s party in the first round of voting on June 30.
The first poll since the snap election was called showed RN obtaining a relative majority with between 235 and 265 seats, comfortably beating Macron’s centrists with 125 to 155 seats. This, however, was conducted before the electoral pact between the RN and LR.
