Le Pen’s far-right wins first round of legislative elections in France

Marine Le Pen’s far-right party has won the first round of the French legislative electiona, following which the president, Emmanuel Macron, and several leaders of the left and centre have called for unity prevent him from getting absolute majority,

far-right National Rally party (RN) received 33.15% of the vote With its conservative allies, clearly ahead of the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) and the Macronist bloc, According to provisional results from the French Interior Ministry. The left-wing alliance of the New Popular Front (NFP) won 27.99% of the vote, becoming the second major political force ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s outgoing majority. Which is the biggest loser in the election with 20.04%,

The Republicans, the party of the classic Right, which has been blown away due to the agreement of its president Eric Ciotti with the RN, was left with a 6.57% In isolation and if the votes of other right-wing candidates are included, it is 10.23%. What has become clear is that The majority seats in the National Assembly will be decided in a second round next Sunday, July 7,

This first round, in which participation reached a particularly high level 66.71%, 37 deputies from the RN have already been elected, 32 from the NFP, two from the Macronist bloc and three for LR and its allies. Looking ahead to the second round next Sunday, the RN and its allies are going to contest 485 of the 577 constituencies, and its candidates finished first in the first round in 297 of them.

This gives an idea of ​​the strength of the far right, which is what all demographic studies have predicted so far, First political group in the next National Assembly.

The far right wants an absolute majority

The question is whether it will happen with an absolute majority i.e. at least a majority 289 seats. Given this situation, it is possible Strategic withdrawal of some candidates Preventing the victory of others in some constituencies could be decisive. The leftist alliance has managed to qualify its candidates for the second round 446 constituenciesHowever, only 157 of them rank first.

Its leaders have announced that they will systematically withdraw their candidates who finished third And they would have to compete with either of the RN candidates with a chance of winning. The Macronist bloc would theoretically be able to contest 319 constituencies in the second round, but it only came first in 69 of them.

Since the first results were known last night the slogans in the region have been of variable geometry with respect to the possibility that, to prevent the RN from winning some seats, its candidates who are in a difficult position will resign. All this must be specified Here on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., When the deadline to submit candidates for the second round will be over.

One of three national estimates of seats published by demographic institutes is considered RN likely to get absolute majority in the second round (this allocates between 255 and 295 seats, when the threshold is 289).

Candidate for the post of Prime Minister, Jordan BerdellaThe National Group won these elections. is “unpleasant”. Thus, Bardella has requested a major mobilization To achieve absolute majority in the second round. And along the same lines, Le Pen, in front of a few ardent followers in her electoral fiefdom of Hénin-Beaumont (North), has called for a vote on July 7 to secure an absolute majority and leave Macron no choice but to raise his hand to the right as the next head of government.

For the extreme right, which has already won the last two European elections Never legislatedThe possibility now opens up for them to form a government with the largest parliamentary group, even though they had only 89 seats in the outgoing House.

Macron calls for unity to stop far right

The victory of the RN, which has already taken a lead in the polls, has generated an immediate reaction from Macron, who has called for the rapid formation of “A broad, clear democratic and republican union for the second roundMacron’s words were interpreted as a slogan for candidates who placed third in various constituencies to withdraw and seek votes to avoid a victory for the far right.

In this sense, the prime minister, Gabriel Attal, reiterated Macron’s message that what remains now is to “prevent the RN from obtaining an absolute majority” with “its destructive project”. “The lesson of tonight is that the extreme right is at the doorstep of power,” the government said in a statement from headquarters, in which it added: “If we want to live with the French destiny, we must avoid the worst.”

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the left-wing formation La Francia Insumisa (LFI), one of the members of the New Popular Front and one of the leftists most critical of Macron, has expressed himself along the same lines. “In all circumstances our slogan is clear: not one more vote for the RN, not one more seat for the RN,” said Mélenchon, who has announced that his party will withdraw its candidates in the second round if it helps the far-right candidate not get elected.