First round French election results: Far Right wins
Exit polls indicate that the far-right RN has won around 34% of votes. President Macron’s coalition centrist fell to third with 20,3%.
By Al Jazeera
Jul 01, 2024 06 :35 AM
The far-right National Rally party in France has been able to win a resounding first round victory at the snap parliamentary election.
According to IFOP, Ipsos, and OpinionWay pollsters, Marine Le Pen’s RN would win around 34 percent. Meanwhile, the New Popular Front (NFP), a coalition of left-wing parties, was expected to get about 29 percent. Ensemble, the coalition led by President Emmanuel Macron, would receive about 20 percent.
The results have put RN into a position where it can start thinking about forming a government. Other forces within the political spectrum, however, have said that they will work together to stop this far-right party during the second voting round on 7 July.
Macron stunned the country by calling snap elections, after the RN had surged in the European Parliament Elections held last month. He bet that the anti-immigration party with its history of antisemitism would not replicate this success on the national level.
In the Henin Beaumont constituency in northern France, supporters of Le Pen sang La Marseillaise while waving French flags.
She said that the crowd was delighted by France’s willingness and determination to end a power which is corrosive, contemptible, and threatening.
Le Pen’s protégé and candidate for prime minister, Jordan Bardella stated that the second round would be “the most important in the history of the French Fifth Republic.”
He claimed Macron’s Party was wiped out and accused the extremist left of creating an “existential crisis” that represents “a real danger to France and French people in general”.
Elabe, a pollster for BFM TV estimated that RN would win 260-310 seats in the parliament during the second round of voting scheduled for 7 July. In a poll for France TV, Ipsos projected 230-280 seats for RN.
Le Pen, Bardella and other politicians have stated that they are seeking an absolute majority – 289 total seats – in the National Assembly (France’s lower chamber).
Macron calls for “broad democratic alliance”
The chances of the RN forming a government coalition and gaining power depends on how its rivals treat each other over the next few weeks. Historically, centre-right and middle-left parties have worked together to prevent far-right parties gaining power.
Macron has called for a “wide” democratic alliance in order to combat the extreme right.
In a release to the press, he said that “Faced with National Rally, it’s time for a broad, democratic and republican coalition in the second round.” “
According to him, the high turnout in the first round is a sign that “this vote is important for all of our compatriots and they want clarity on the political situation.”
Premier Gabriel Attal warns that the far-right is “at the gates of power” and “no vote should be given to National Rally”.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, a member of the New Popular Front party (NPF), a far-left party, has announced that he will pull the candidates who placed third in the first round of parliamentary elections to create a two-horserace to defeat as many RN candidate on the extreme right in the next election.
If no candidate receives 50% of the vote in the first round, then all candidates who have 12,5 percent of registered voters or more qualify for the second round. A constituency is won when the candidate with the most votes wins the run-off.
Melenchon added that the National Rally “will never be able win” in line with his principles and positions from previous elections.
Laurent Berger, former secretary-general of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour and current president of European Trade Union Confederation called for a “blockade” in a posting at X.
Berger said that “this evening our democratic and republican values are at stake, as we face National Rally on the threshold of the government.” “
“In order to avoid danger, it is essential that we stop the extreme right”.
The event attracted a large number of attendees
Ipsos estimated the turnout at Sunday’s election to be 65.5 percent. This is the highest since 1997.
Le Pen has brought the RN to a position of power that it never had before. She took over her father Jean-Marie Le Pen’s leadership after he passed away in 2007.
Rim-Sarah Alouane works as an academic at University Toulouse-Capitole. She claims that Le Pen “done cosmetic surgery on her party “.
Al Jazeera asked Alouane: “Is this the same party that is xenophobic, anti-Muslim?” We know the extremist right. “
She claimed that the vote results also represent a rejection of Macron’s policies, since the president is seen as “haughty” and pandering to the wealthy.
Alouane: ‘I personally know cases where people voted far to the right because of Macron’s policies, especially at an economic level. “
Protests took place in Paris, Lyon, and Nantes among other cities.
On Sunday evening, a few thousand anti-RN protesters gathered at Place de la Republique.
Najiya Khaldi, a 33-year-old teacher, expressed her “disgust” and “sadness” at the high RN results.
She replied, “I don’t usually protest.” “I think I came here to feel less lonely. “
If RN achieves an absolute majority during the second round, it would result in a tense cohabitation, where the president is from a different party than the majority. Macron has pledged to serve until 2027.
Protracted negotiations to form a sustainable government would have a different outcome.
Eurasia Group is a risk-analysis firm that said the RN would “likely” fall short of a majoritarian majority. At best, a governing government of ‘national unity’ will have limited power to govern.
Source
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Al Jazeera News Agency