Gabriel Attal has insisted that holding a primary election for the right and centre is inevitable as he campaigns for the French presidency.
The Renaissance party candidate put forward his proposal on Monday morning during a television appearance, affirming that holding a primary allows political allies to come together.
Attal spoke during an interview on the French network TF1, appearing on the morning news programme Bonjour ! La Matinale TF1 alongside political journalist Alba Ventura. He said that only a single candidate currently opposes the plan to stage a joint primary between the centre and the political right.
Speaking during the broadcast, Attal stated that he still believes a primary is inevitable. He insisted that the voting process enables political forces to unite behind a single banner, even as one rival continues to object to the contest.
Primary proposal for the right and centre
The interview segment, titled Face à Alba Ventura, ran for four minutes and 58 seconds. The video editorial team at TF1info published the full recording online on Monday at 8.20am as part of the channel's political coverage.
Attal previously served as prime minister of France after President Emmanuel Macron appointed him in January 2024. At 34 years old, he was the youngest person to lead a government in the history of the Fifth Republic. Before his appointment, he held several cabinet posts, including education minister, public accounts minister, and government spokesperson, before later leading the Renaissance group in the National Assembly.
Succession battle for Renaissance
Attal is seeking the presidency for Renaissance, the centrist party founded by Macron in 2016 under the name En Marche before rebranding in 2022. Under the French constitution, a president is barred from serving more than two consecutive terms. That limit prevents Macron from running in the next presidential election, leaving the centrist movement seeking a successor.
French presidential elections use a two-round system where only the top two candidates in the first round advance to the decisive runoff. If parties on the centre and right field rival candidates, they risk splitting the vote and missing the final round. French political parties have previously held open primaries to select a single unity candidate before the first round.
TF1 is France's most watched commercial television network, and Bonjour ! La Matinale TF1 is its weekday morning news programme. Ventura is a veteran French political journalist who conducts daily interviews with party leaders.
