• Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen have clashed in recent hours on institutional issues.

  • The outgoing president accused his rival of "authoritarian drift" by targeting in particular his referendum project to modify the Constitution.

    The RN candidate for her part indicated that the Head of State was "afraid of the people" by refusing to consult him by referendum.

  • These questions do not arise by chance in the campaign between the two rounds.

The battle for the second round is on.

For a few hours, the tone has risen between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron.

The candidate of the National Rally and the outgoing President of the Republic clashed through the media on institutional issues.

Little present in the campaign so far, the theme has imposed itself in this beginning of between-two rounds.

For what reasons ?

We take stock.

Two different views on the subject

Marine Le Pen opened the debate on Tuesday, devoting a press conference to the subject.

The RN candidate has indicated that she wants to "revitalize" the institutions by proposing a "referendum revolution" and a revision of the Constitution, which is very controversial, in particular to bring in the principle of "national priority".

“Democracy needs oxygen, we saw it during the “yellow vests”.

This involves key measures, our great referendum on immigration, the RIC [citizen initiative referendum] with 500,000 signatures, proportional representation or the non-renewable seven-year term, ”explains Gilles Pennelle, part of the movement.

For his part, Emmanuel Macron was in favor of the return of the seven-year term, but renewable, as well as the establishment of proportional representation for the legislative elections, which could be organized in the middle of the mandate.

Opposed to the RIC, he did not rule out the use of the referendum, for example on the question of pensions.

But unlike 2017, the outgoing president mentioned avenues without making any promises.

"It must be recognized that we have not made much progress on these issues for five years, but now the president wants to change his method, find a consensus with the other parties", defends LREM deputy Roland Lescure.

Emmanuel Macron wants to launch a "transpartisan commission" upstream to avoid blockage, while his previous reform had come up against the refusal of the Senate in 2018 (and the Benalla affair)

The electorate of Mélenchon to capture

By obtaining nearly 22% of the votes cast, the electorate of Jean-Luc Mélenchon is particularly popular in this between-two rounds.

The highlighting of institutional proposals, very present in the program of La France insoumise with in particular the project of the Sixth Republic and the RIC, is therefore not insignificant.

“Mélenchon has a number of proposals, it has not escaped us, so our project can speak to its voters”, recognizes Gilles Pennelle.

"The voters of Mélenchon are not all pure and hard mélenchonistes, we can convince some, in particular by proposing this new method of government mentioned by the head of state", assures more cautiously Roland Lescure.

A way to attack the opponent

These institutional questions are also a way of attacking the adversary in the very last straight line.

Emmanuel Macron accused this Wednesday on France 2 Marine Le Pen of "authoritarian drift", while his rival justified during his press conference his refusal to accredit the journalists of Quotidien (RMC).

He also described as "madness" Marine Le Pen's wish to change the Constitution by a single referendum without going through Parliament.

"There is indeed a risk of authoritarian drift when we choose journalists or when we make fun of the constitutional framework," says Roland Lescure.

For her part, Marine Le Pen accused the Head of State "of being afraid of the people".

“We are in the Gaullian spirit of the institutions, which gives the people the possibility of expressing themselves directly.

Macron is panicking because he is caught off guard on this subject, ”said Gilles Pennelle.

Regarding unaccredited journalists, the boss of the RN in Brittany prefers to dodge.

"When Macron bans journalists from Reporterre at his meeting, isn't that an authoritarian drift?

The two candidates will have the opportunity to discuss these subjects more head-on next Wednesday during a highly anticipated debate.

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  • Presidential election 2022

  • Elections

  • Marine Le Pen

  • Emmanuel Macron

  • Referendum

  • Ballot