French opposition parties struck deals Tuesday to try to block a landslide victory for the far-right National Rally party in Sunday’s second round of legislative elections.
An unprecedented number of candidates qualified for the second round of the French legislative electionsboth from the left alliance of the New Popular Front as of the weakened President Macron’s centristshave stepped aside to favor the candidate most likely to win against the far-right National Group.
Various cabinet ministers They were among those who abandoned the race. According to an account in the French newspaper ‘Le Monde’, about 218 candidates who could compete in the second round have withdrawn. Of them, 130 were from the left and 82 came from the centrist Ensemble alliance, led by Macron. The candidates had until 6:00 p.m. local time this Tuesday to withdraw. The Ministry of the Interior has not confirmed these figures at the moment.
“Today we have a goal: deny an absolute majority to the National Group“said François Ruffin of the far-left France Insoumise party, which is part of the new progressive alliance along with the French Greens, Socialists and Communists.
During the election campaign, the prime minister Gabriel Attal appeared at a food market where he toasted “to victory” and said that it is necessary “to prevent the National Rally from achieving an absolute majority in the National Assembly because it would be, and I say this from the bottom of my gut, terrible for the country and the French,” Attal said.
Le Pen says that her party will lead the Government only if they win an absolute majority or close to that threshold
The first round brought the National Group closer than ever to the Governmentbut left open the possibility that the voters will block your path to power next domingo.
The National Rally, under party president Jordan Bardella, obtained the most votes in the first round of the early legislative elections on June 30, but not enough to claim an overall victory that would allow the formation of France’s first far-right government since World War II.
“We cannot agree to enter the Government if we cannot act,” Le Pen said in an interview with public broadcaster ‘France Inter’. “It would be the worst betrayal of our voters.” However, “if we have, say, 270 legislators, we need 19 more, we will go to the others and we will ask them if they are willing to participate with us in a new majority”.
The opposition fears that the extreme right will erode civil liberties and social rights
Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called early elections on June 9 after a tough defeat at the hands of the French National Rally in the European Parliament elections. The unpopular president He bet that the extreme right would not repeat that success when the fate of France was at stake.
But Macron’s plan failed. Now he is accused, even by members of his own camp, of opening a door to the National Rally by calling on voters to return to the polls, especially when so many are angry about inflation, the cost of living, immigration and against Macron himself.
The extreme right took advantage of that frustration and the feeling that globalization is leaving many French families behind. Le Pen’s party campaigned on a platform that promised to increase consumer purchasing power, reduce immigration and take a tougher line on European Union rules.
The opponents of the National Group They fear for civil liberties If the party, which has a history of racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and hostility towards the Muslims of France, takes power. The far-right party plans to increase police powers and restrict the rights of French citizens with dual nationality to work in some defense, security and nuclear industry jobs.
