Electoral silence in France ahead of Sunday's legislative runoff
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00:00We can say that the campaign has been marked by tension and violence.
00:03According to France's Interior Ministry, 51 candidates or political activists have
00:08been attacked in just three short weeks of campaigning.
00:13For more on this and the week's top stories, I'm joined by Richard Verly, the correspondent
00:18covering France and Europe for Swiss paper Blick.
00:21Thank you so much for joining us today.
00:23It is a frustrating time for journalists here in France, because all anyone is thinking
00:27about is the election, of course, but we can't really talk about it.
00:31Can you remind us what electoral silence is and why it exists in France?
00:35Well, first of all, I am myself on the election train, I may say, because I'm in the department
00:41of N, north of Paris.
00:44But why we are not being able to speak about the election, it's a question of fairness.
00:49Tomorrow, the candidates are going to wait for the result.
00:53Of course, 49.5 million of French voters will go to the ballots.
00:59And it's considered as necessary to cool down the political climate.
01:04So one full day, this Saturday, without polls, without any estimation of votes, any projections
01:11of seats.
01:12So it is supposed to be the guardian, I may say, of democracy.
01:16That's why us, the media, we're not able to talk about it or to mention any trend.
01:22So there are polls available, but we won't be able to disclose them.