France: Extreme right wins first round of parliamentary elections according to preliminary data

The far-right National Rally party (RN, French acronym Rassemblement National) scored a historic victory in the first round of France’s parliamentary elections this Sunday, according to several exit polls.

According to survey data provided by France Television and Radio France after the elections ended, Marine Le Pen’s party RN received about 34% of the votes.

The left-wing New Popular Front coalition reached almost 29% of the vote. And President Macron’s coalition, Ensemble, won about 20%.

Once the first results were known, Le Pen addressed her supporters.

“Democracy has spoken and the French have put the RN and its allies on top, practically destroying Macron’s camp,” he said.

He said people clearly want to “turn the page” Seven years of contemptible and corrosive government” and asked his supporters to vote again for the RN in the second round next Sunday.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, who surprisingly called these parliamentary elections after the results of last month’s European elections, which were also positive for the RN, explained that a front must be formed Defeat the far right,

“You have to vote for the Republican and Democratic candidates,” he said, referring to the second round.

President Macron also praised the massive turnout in Sunday’s election, which according to several reports was the highest in the last 40 years.

The parliamentary elections in France, which define how the National Assembly is formed, consist of two electoral rounds. The second will take place next Sunday and will ultimately define the French political landscape.

Macron once again said that whatever the result of the election will not resign from the post of PresidentWhose term is ending in 2027.

The National Group had never before won the first round of a parliamentary election in the country.

In the last parliamentary elections, that is in 2022, they got 18.7% of the vote in the first round – 15% less than this Sunday.

But this historic victory does not mean the fight is over.

In these elections, 577 deputies to the National Assembly are elected, who will hold office for 5 years (or less, if the President dissolves the Assembly, as happened in this case).

To select them, the country has been divided into two parts 577 constituencies and in each one deputy is elected.

For a candidate to win his or her constituency in the first round, he or she must receive more than 50% of the vote.

If no candidate succeeds, the election goes to a second round, in which the two candidates with the most votes in the first round compete and all other candidates who have obtained a vote corresponding to 12.5% ​​or more of the population registered to vote in the constituency.

That is, there may be constituencies in which there are more than two candidates competing in the second round.

According to Paul Kirby, Europe digital editor at the BBC, “each constituency has its own political history.”

“RN could win a few of them tonight and stay ahead of most others,

“However, the Left alliance also performed very well.”

In their reactions to the results of this Sunday, President Macron and some other leaders of the center and left had already called for Vote tactically next Sunday to oust far-right RN candidates,

Former left-wing presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who heads one of the parties that is part of the New Popular Front coalition, said: “We will not let the National Rally win anywhere.”

“That is why, in cases where we are in third place, we will withdraw from the race,” he said.

Gabriel AttalThe current Prime Minister of France (along the lines of President Macron) made a statement to the same effect.

He announced that the candidate of the Macron-led coalition, Ensemble, who received enough votes to participate in the second round but with no chance of winning, would withdraw to give a non-RN candidate a chance to win.

He added, “Our aim now is to prevent the RN from obtaining an absolute majority and running the country with its destructive project.”

President Macron will name a new prime minister when the final results are in next Sunday. Traditionally, the head of the party or coalition that wins the most seats in the assembly is elected.

If the National Group succeeds in obtaining an absolute majority next Sunday, it will be expected that the Chairman of that party, Jordan Berdellabecomes the prime minister.

Bardella is a 28-year-old politician who has spent his career since the age of 16 very close to Marine Le Pen and succeeded her as party president when she ran for president in 2022.

After the preliminary results this Sunday, Bardella confirmed that the country has two paths: “the worst” – that of the left coalition, which he described as “an existential threat” – and that of his party.

However, he added that he would be the Prime Minister for “all French people” and would respect them Cohabitation with President MacronThis is a phenomenon that occurs when the party leading in Parliament is not the same as that of the President.

In her statement this Sunday, Marine Le Pen said: “We need an absolute majority so that Jordan Bardella can be appointed prime minister within a week.”

However, polls by France Télévisions and Radio France predict that RN will win after next Sunday’s elections Between 230 to 280 seats They need far less than the absolute majority of 289 in the assembly that Le Pen talks about.

In any case, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the far right in France was “at the doorstep of power.”

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