French PM Gabriel Attal: 'Not one single vote must go to the National Rally'

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00:00You have just expressed yourselves through the vote, and I would like to thank all local

00:07MPs and all of the people working in the polling stations for what they've done.

00:14That is democracy, and we owe a lot to them.

00:17I would also like to thank all of the candidates who ran for Ensemble de Poder et Public, many

00:22of whom qualified for the second round of voting.

00:25And I would like to thank all of the French people who put their trust in us in this first

00:29round of voting.

00:31Our candidates are the ones who are fighting, no matter what the headwinds, no matter what

00:36circumstances may present themselves.

00:39They're fighting towards a single goal, which is that our values win out, that France wins

00:44out as we are fundamentally attached to the Republic and we are secure in wishing to reduce

00:55inequality and to move our country forward.

00:59We firmly believe that our fight is a fair one, a strong one, a necessary one, and indeed

01:06a requirement.

01:09But this evening is not an evening like any other.

01:12You know me and I will go right to the point.

01:18The far right is currently climbing the steps to power.

01:21Never before in our history has the French Parliament run the risk of being dominated

01:25by the far right.

01:28So what we must do is clear, stopping the Rassemblement National from achieving an absolute

01:33majority in the second round, dominating the Assemblée Nationale and therefore governing

01:38the country with the projects that we know.

01:45I would like to call on all of French voters, no vote should go to the Rassemblement National.

01:54In these circumstances, France deserves that we do not hesitate in our choice.

01:58We should never hesitate.

01:59If we want to stand up and honour the moment, we have a moral duty to do everything that

02:05we can to avoid that the worst may happen.

02:10My career and my work as a politician lead me to fight with all of my strength against

02:16the project of the far right.

02:17It would reduce our values to nothing, it would considerably weaken our country and

02:22would simply add more misery to the misery that our citizens are already experiencing.

02:28In hundreds of constituencies, our candidates will be fighting for the second round of voting

02:34and therefore will be the best choice to avoid the Rassemblement National achieving an absolute

02:39majority.

02:40In other constituencies and districts, and this is a choice that we made in the very

02:46first round of voting, in 60 of our constituencies, we will be pulling out our candidates who

02:51came third so that we do not allow a Rassemblement National candidate to go forward in the favour

03:01of a Republican one.

03:05Our candidates fought hard with their teams.

03:08This is a difficult choice, it's a heavy choice, but it means being responsible and

03:15I firmly believe it is the honourable choice to make.

03:18Everyone understands that tonight.

03:20The new Front Populaire will not be able to achieve an absolute majority.

03:24We've said throughout the campaign that La France Insoumise within that alliance prevents

03:29it from being a credible alternative for power.

03:34So the situation tonight is clear.

03:37What is at stake in the second round is to make sure that the far right does not achieve

03:41a majority by creating a parliament where we have enough weight to work amongst Republican

03:46forces to build projects and ideas.

03:49In this new Assemblement National, I believe that we will be able to fight to defend your

03:56ideals, your values and your interests.

04:00So it is by being strong around France and giving that strength to our candidates in

04:05the second round that we will be able to protect you the best.

04:09My fellow citizens, you may well have been disappointed by these last years, you may

04:15well be angry, but throughout those years we have been fighting to move forward and

04:20we have been fighting to protect what matters the most, the Republic and our values.

04:25We must continue to do this and that starts tomorrow with the hundreds of candidates who

04:30are running for Ensemble who will be starting to campaign for this final week, fighting

04:37for the French people.

04:40Today you voted, you expressed yourself.

04:43Today you are the lifeblood of our democracy which is our most important treasure.

04:49We will continue to fight together to push forward, vote together for the Republic and

04:57vote for the candidates that defend the Republic.

05:01Thank you.

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