"I read here and there that what is being played out in Ukraine would put the presidential election in the background, well, I think precisely the opposite: what is being attacked at the moment, with real ammunition, by Russia in Ukraine, c "This is democracy. Let's never forget how lucky we are to be able to participate in elections", declared Mr. Attal in front of around 300 activists from the metropolis of Lyon and the Rhône.

In a fully acquired room, where most of the La République En Marche parliamentarians from the metropolis were present, the participants chanted: "And one, and two, and five more years!".

The government spokesperson defended the results of the last five-year term and listed some known measures of candidate Macron's program, including the abolition of the television license fee and the postponement of the retirement age to 65.

Gabriel Attal said he would go to Marseilles on Saturday with Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin for the first meeting of this campaign, without specifying whether the candidate would be present.

The outcome is also uncertain, due to a lack of "visibility" due to the Ukrainian situation.

"If the president is not a candidate as much as he would have liked, we will be twice as many to meet the French," he promised to the press in Lyon, a city considered a stronghold. macronist since the early support of former mayor Gérard Collomb for Emmanuel Macron.

Among the activists present, Mina Benyahya-Blanc, a 25-year-old student, observed during tracts to support Emmanuel Macron that "on the ground, people (were) more receptive to the message because they agreed with his management of the crisis in Ukraine".

"They were able to see a new facet of him," she said.

Another, Armelle Grenier, a 60-year-old consultant, was pleased to support a candidate who "gives confidence, especially at this time".

She said she fears that in "this period when people are worried", voters will not go to the polls thinking the vote "already folded".

Modem regional delegate François-Xavier Pénicaud called on activists to "be centimiers, to seek voice after voice" and "to lead the battle until the fourth round", that is to say until the end of the elections. legislative which will follow in June.

© 2022 AFP