Le Monde evokes discussions around the possibility of a withdrawal of Ms. Taubira behind the ecologist Yannick Jadot who, in the event of victory, would entrust him with the presidency of a constituent assembly.

The president of the Radical Left Party (PRG), Guillaume Lacroix, close to Ms. Taubira, however refuted Tuesday to AFP any discussion on the possible rallying of one to the other.

"There was a discussion to find out if the union of the left was possible, and how. At this stage, we have not found", he said, specifying: "We did not negotiate anything , and there is no date to see each other again".

In the EELV camp, we refused to comment on this meeting, which was not intended to be made public, being content to ensure that the ecologists "discuss with everyone".

Asked Tuesday morning on his arrival at the Oceanographic Institute to find out if Ms. Taubira would join him, Yannick Jadot chuckled and refused to answer.

As for Mrs. Taubira, she assured during a press conference that “yes, indeed, there are meetings”.

"I have never hidden it (...) I speak to everyone", she added, stressing that "the gathering is desired because everyone has understood that this is the condition for get to the second round and win."

"Handling"

The disclosure of this meeting is a matter of "manipulation", assured a person informed of the discussions interviewed by AFP on Tuesday morning.

It is a question of “showing the popular Primary that the Taubira team is working to unite”, but the result is that “it undermines the hypothesis that it will be done”, added this source.

Despite her victory in the popular Primary in January, a citizens' initiative which was supposed to unite the camp of the left but which fizzled, Ms. Taubira did not take off in the polls, which give her around 5% of the intentions of vote.

Moreover, she is struggling to collect the 500 sponsorships of elected officials necessary for any candidate to appear in the first round on April 10 (only 8 on her counter).

The Constitutional Council was to update its list of sponsorships at the end of the afternoon.

Ms. Taubira, who came late in the presidential race, is accused by her opponents, including socialist Anne Hidalgo, of being "one more candidacy" in an already full left-wing audience.

She denies it, arguing that she is the only one able to gather, and seems to have an interest in staging her efforts.

For his part, Yannick Jadot, who is campaigning for an "Ecological Republic", is also lagging behind in the polls of voting intentions, as are all the left-wing candidates who would total around a quarter of the votes, far behind Emmanuel Macron and right-wing and far-right candidates.

Roussel holds out his arms

None exceeds the 10% mark, which is not the least of the paradoxes in a campaign where purchasing power is the number one concern of the French.

Mr. Jadot continued his "tour of the possible" on Tuesday by bringing together his troops for a meeting in the afternoon in Rennes.

On Sunday, he felt that there was "an extraordinary and real prospect of victory for a social and republican ecology" in the presidential election because of the "threshold for access to the second round" which "will be very low".

For his part, the communist Fabien Roussel assured Tuesday on Sud-Radio that he had "never closed the door" to the union of the left and even seemed to reach out to Anne Hidalgo.

In the evening, Ms. Hidalgo and Republican candidate Valérie Pécresse were to attend the dinner of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF).

President Emmanuel Macron, who continued Tuesday in Kiev his attempts to mediate in the Ukrainian crisis, was initially to participate but will ultimately go to Berlin instead, to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

© 2022 AFP