Le Havre (AFP)
Violent clashes erupted Thursday evening between demonstrators and police, near the village hall of Le Havre where the third public meeting of Edouard Philippe, candidate for municipal elections, was held, a correspondent for the AFP.
More than 300 demonstrators had gathered at the intersyndicale's call to protest against the pension reform and the government's decision to use section 49.3 to adopt this reform.
The police used tear gas canisters in response to jets of chairs, eggs, tomatoes and flour, near the room where the meeting of Edouard Philippe was held for two hours, in front of some 400 people. Access was blocked by traffic by security barriers.
"Many activists were unable to access the public meeting," regretted the campaign team of Edouard Philippe. Top of the list without the label "Le Havre!" played the local and ecology card by declining his project for Le Havre 2026 over a walk in different parts of the city, with slides to support it.
A little reassured Wednesday by a survey deemed "encouraging", the Prime Minister is however far from assured of a victory at the municipal elections in Le Havre, where the national context, the level of abstention and the hypothesis of a union of lefts in the second round cast the shadow of a doubt.
According to this Ifop / Cnews poll, Mr. Philippe harvests 42% of the voting intentions in the 1st round, ahead of the PCF candidate (supported by La France insoumise) Jean-Paul Lecoq to 25%, the environmentalist Alexis Deck (supported by the Party Socialist) at 16%, and the representative of the National Rally Frédéric Groussard at 10%.
This survey carried out by telephone with 602 Le Havres from February 22 to 27, however, leaves a lot of "uncertainty", according to Frédéric Dabi, Deputy Director General of Ifop. In 2014, Edouard Philippe was elected in the first round with 52% of the votes.
© 2020 AFP