International
The grand coalition takes shape in the face of the foreseeable lack of a majority of the far right
The foreseeable lack of an absolute majority of the far right in the French elections next Sunday makes a “grand coalition” of very opposite parties increasingly take shape as the only way to govern the country.
Two polls released on Thursday afternoon coincide with another published yesterday in the sense that the far-right National Association (RN) would not achieve an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
A first Ifop poll attributes to the far right 210-240 seats, far from the absolute majority of 289.
In second place will be the New Left Popular Front (NFP), with 170-200 deputies, while the current majority of President Emmanuel Macron will fall to the third position, with 95-125 seats.
The conservative LR would have 25-45, but a hypothetical sum with the ultra-right (to date very unlikely) would still not result in a majority. Independent candidates or candidates from small regionalist formations will take between 15 and 27 seats.
The poll predicts a very high participation (68%) with very motivated voters, since 92% say they are already sure of their voting option.
Another OpinionWay poll points out that the RN would get 205-230 deputies, for 145-175 for the left and 130-162 for the macronist bloc. The conservatives would have 38 to 50.
Both studies coincide, in essence, with another published on Wednesday by Harris Interactive and which assigned the RN between 190 and 220 deputies, even further from the majority.
If those results are confirmed within three days on Sunday’s return, France’s only governance option would go through what is defined as “republican front” or “grand coalition” that brings together all parties except the far right.
However, the strong ideological and programmatic differences in a political arc that goes from the conservative right to the communists and the rebellious left of La Francia Insumisa have meant that for now the parties and leaders have not wanted to define how to put that idea into practice.
For now, socialists, macronists, ecologists, communists, ‘submissos’ and conservatives prefer to focus on their campaigns to, if necessary, have the best possible cards in the face of an eventual negotiation.
The far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who warned today that the only options now are “the mud or an absolute majority of the RN,” insists on rejecting that idea.
Le Pen denounced again that a front against his party “has the sole objective of preventing the National Association from having an absolute majority.”
Meanwhile, the French football star, Kylian Mbappé, captain of the national team, again asked from the German European Championship for a national mobilization against the far right to “not leave the country in the hands of those people.”
“More than ever we must go to vote. There is a real urgency. We can’t leave our country in the hands of those people. It’s really urgent. I think we have seen the results, it is catastrophic and we really hope that it goes well and that people mobilize,” said the star striker of Real Madrid and the French national team at a press conference.
It is not the first time that Mbappé, with a Cameroonian father and a French mother of Algerian origin, has entered the campaign since the concentration of ‘les Bleus’, just as other players of the national team have done.
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, announced that a total of 30,000 police and gendarmes will be deployed on Sunday to avoid possible unrest or violent protests after the disclosure of the results.
The announcement comes after there have been a multiplication of cases of physical assaults on members of parties that were campaigning in recent days.
The most striking case has been that of the Government spokeswoman, Prisca Thevenot, whose group was attacked while sticking posters on Wednesday afternoon by some young people.
A Macronist militant suffered a fractured jaw and deputy Virginie Lanlo suffered a slight injury to one arm because of the aggression, which occurred in Meudon, on the southern outskirts of Paris.
The police arrived quickly and arrested three minors between the ages of 16 and 17 and a 20-year-old adult with a police record.
In recent days, the high tension of the campaign for the increase in calls to oppose the far right and the increase in racist or violent messages by some voices of the extreme right has resulted in a level of virulence much higher than that of other elections.
However, no episode has been really serious. Some blows or damage to cars have so far been the most serious thing that has happened, although several leaders and media have warned about the high level of tension in society.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
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Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction