Presidential: candidates denounce the failure of Emmanuel Macron on Mali

Europe 1 with AFP 5:53 p.m., February 17, 2022

Several presidential candidates have seen in the announced withdrawal of France from Mali a "failure" of Emmanuel Macron, quasi-candidate in a campaign still marked by exacerbated tensions on the right less than two months from the first round.

Although the majority of the contenders for the Elysée have declared themselves rather in favor of France's disengagement from this country where 48 French soldiers from Operation Barkhane have been killed, some have fired red bullets at the strategy undertaken by President Macron for the past five years.

"A largely predictable disaster"

"The pitiful withdrawal of Mali signs the overwhelming record of the duo Hollande-Macron", reacted in a press release the leader of rebellious France Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the best placed on the left in the polls of voting intentions.

He was referring to the engagement of French troops in Mali decided by François Hollande in 2013.

Evoking "a largely foreseeable disaster", he attacked with virulence a strategy which left the country "in ruins".

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For her part, the socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo criticized a "failure for Emmnauel Macron" on Radio J and estimated, in a press release, that "if the instability of the region is not the sole responsibility of France, the President of the Republic must assume the choices made over the past 5 years, which have considerably weakened the influence of France".

President Macron, who announced Thursday the gradual withdrawal of French, European and Canadian soldiers from this country led by a military junta, challenged any notion of "failure".

"I completely reject this term", he said, explaining that if France had not decided to intervene in 2013, there would have been "certainly a collapse of the Malian state".

He also argued "many successes" of the French military, including the elimination of the emir of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqmi) in June 2020.

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On the right, LR candidate Valérie Pécresse estimated Thursday on LCI that "the way France is treated by the Malian junta is not worthy" and judged that "we must not leave (from the region, editor's note) as the Americans did in Afghanistan. We must not abandon this terrain on which France defends universal values".

Marine Le Pen (RN), for her part, considered that "being forced to leave after being humiliated to this extent by the Malian government is a failure", and deplored the absence of an "exit strategy". .

Defector War

On the far right, the fierce battle continues against the backdrop of a defector war.

Marine Le Pen believes that "both in form and in substance", the defections of RN personalities joining the Reconquest movement!

by Eric Zemmour "say a lot more about them than about us".

Last act to date: the announcement on Wednesday evening of the rallying of the MEP and former senior leader of RN Nicolas Bay to Eric Zemmour.

This defector slammed the door, castigating Marine Le Pen's "turnarounds and retreats".

He also filed a complaint for defamation after being accused by the RN of "sabotage" and of having provided information to the Zemmour camp.

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The question of defectors also concerns the LR candidate Valérie Pécresse after the departure of Eric Woerth for the Macron camp, the unfriendly confidences of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy and a meeting deemed a failure.

Criticized for having evoked the conspiratorial term "great replacement" dear to Eric Zemmour, Ms. Pécresse, who returned to the road Thursday, for the Vendée, denied on LCI any "ambiguity" vis-à-vis the far right and denounced "the unhealthy game of the macronists".

"Useful vote"

On the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon presents himself more and more as the representative of the "useful vote".

The leader of LFI received the unexpected support of the former socialist presidential candidate of 2007, Ségolène Royal, who considers him "the most solid", provoking the ire of Anne Hidalgo who considered this "necessarily shocking ".

Despite LFI's calls for union, the communist Fabien Roussel intends to continue his campaign of "happy days" not unhappy to have somewhat restored the coat of arms of the communists.

He strongly attacked Thursday Eric Zemmour denouncing his "little brown plague program".

On the race side in the race – the quest for the 500 sponsorships of elected officials necessary to appear in the first round on April 10 – the countdown has started for several candidates including Mr. Mélenchon, Mrs. Le Pen and Mr. Zemmour who have until March 4 to bring them together.

The Constitutional Council was to publish this Thursday at 5:00 p.m. a new updated list of sponsorships.