The far-right National Rally won around a third of the votes in the first round of French legislative elections, but it may not be enough to obtain an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
Three weeks after his crush victory in the European electionsthe far-right National Group (AN) was consolidated on Sunday as first french matchwith a comfortable advantage in the first round of the early legislative elections.
“The French have given a clear verdict and have confirmed their clear desire for change by putting the candidates of the National Rally and their allies in the lead,” he declared. AN leader Jordan Bardellain his victory speech, shortly after 8:00 p.m. local time.
According to an Ipsos poll, AN is on track to obtain around 33.2% of the votes nationwide. That’s a five-point lead over the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) alliance and a whopping 12 points over French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble coalition.
If the vote is confirmed in the second round next Sunday, could give AN between 230 and 280 seats in the National Assembly.
This is a big improvement over the 89 it had before the chamber was dissolved on June 9, although It may still not be enough to reach the absolute majority, which requires 289 seats.
The Prime Minister of all French people
Bardella gave his five-minute victory speech in central Paris, before a room packed with journalists from around the world. And anyone else: not a single AN executive to announce the results to journalists, nor supporters to cheer and boo at the right moments. The entire exercise seemed choreographed to demonstrate his prime ministerial skills.
A somber-looking Bardella promised that it would be “the prime minister of all french people… respectful of the opposition, open to dialogue and concerned at all times about the unity of the people.”
“Seven days now separate us from a historic election and I hope that this second round campaign can be developed in a climate of serenity, honesty and respect for the institutions and democratic rules of all French men and women,” he said.
But that didn’t stop him launch attacks left and center: “It is clear that, in view of the results, the presidential side, still widely disavowed today, is no longer in a position to win,” he said. The Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition seems willing to lose up to 180 seats and keep only 70.
For its part, the left-wing party NFP It was described as “the alliance of the worst”whose control of power “would lead to disorder, insurrection and the ruin of our economy.”
Jean-Luc Mélenchonleader of the far-left Open France party, was the only opponent mentioned by Bardella, an honor not even granted to Macron.
“Mr. Mélenchon and his friends are putting our nation in existential danger,” Bardella stated, arguing that “the dangerous far left” had presented candidates who are on the country’s terrorist watch listwho planned to “disarm the police,” “open the floodgates to immigration,” and abolish a law against Islamic separatism.
On the contrary, he presented his formation as a “unprecedented alliancemotivated by the national interest”, and swore to the French that, if sworn in as prime minister, he would be the “guarantor of your rights, your freedoms and our republican mottowhich unites all the people of France in the same promise of freedom, equality and fraternity.”
Among his priorities he cited increase in purchasing powerthe restoration of order and security and “take the reins of our immigration policy.”
A republican retreat against the national demonstration?
His solemn speech contrasted with that of Marine Le Penformer party leader and president of its group in the National Assembly, who spoke to several hundred flag-waving supporters from her stronghold of Hénin-Beaumont, about two hours north of Paris.
They applauded her when she said that the results of the match had practically “annihilated the Macronist bloc“, and when he announced that he had already secured his seat, avoiding the need for a second round. And They booed her when she mentioned the left-wing coalition or said Mélenchon’s name.
Both, however, insisted on the need not only to confirm the vote, but to reinforce it in order to be able rule alone: “I want to express my gratitude [a los votantes de AN] and I ask you to continue to mobilize in a last effort on Sunday, July 7. The vote they will cast next Sunday is one of the most decisive in the history of the Fifth Republic,” declared Bardella.
Le Pen, for her part, warned that “without a clear majority, there will always be some old grudges, programmed inertia and Dirty tricks to prevent the real change that the country urgently needs“.
ADVERTISING“By voting for the candidates of the National Group, you will ensure that, in unity and fraternity, the country rediscovers the energy to be one. In these days that are approaching, be wary of those who, using unjustified fear or invented threats, only want perpetuate a system that has failed and continued“he continued.
But the far-right party’s path to an absolute majority is likely to be hampered by a “republican withdrawal“that the leftist parties are coordinating.
In the constituencies in which more than two people qualified for the second round by obtaining more than 12.5% of the votes – which the pollster Ipsos estimated at about 250 seats -, Left-wing parties have said they will withdraw third-place candidates to avoid dividing the anti-AN vote..
It is a strategy that the president also seems to have adopted: “In front of the National Group, the time has come for a broad, clearly democratic and republican concentration for the second round“Macron wrote in a statement.
