Macron warns of risk of 'civil war' ahead of French elections

(Patria) - French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that both the far-right National Rally (RN) party and the left-wing coalition New Popular Front, the frontrunners in the parliamentary elections, risk leading France into a 'civil war', Reuters reported.

Macron said in the podcast 'Generation Do It Yourself' that the RN's manifesto, which pollsters have placed in first place, and their solutions for dealing with fears of crime and immigration are based on 'stigmatisation or divisions'.

'I think the solutions offered by the far right are out of the question, because they categorise people in terms of their religion or origin and that leads to divisions and civil war,' he said on the podcast.

Macron levelled the same criticism at the far-left party France Unbowed (LFI), which is part of the New Popular Front coalition, because 'behind that stands a civil war because you categorise people solely by their religious view or the community they belong to, which is in a way a way to justify isolation from the wider national community and in this case, you would have a civil war with those who do not share those same values,' Macron said.

Asked to respond to Macron's comments about civil war, RN president Jordan Bardella, who is seen as a possible prime minister if the RN wins the most votes in the elections, told TV M6: 'The president should not say that.'

France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Melenchon also condemned Macron's comments in an interview with TV France 2, saying that Macron's own policies had led to civil unrest, such as in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia.