France’s far right wins lead and is seeking a majority
The far right has reached a pole position in France following the first round of parliamentary elections. This confirmed Le Pen’s party dominance in French politics, bringing them closer to power. Supporters of Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally (RN) celebrated as she declared the president’s “Macronist bloc has been all but wiped out.”
RN gained 33.1% of the vote, followed by a left-wing alliance with 28%, and Macron’s side trailing at 20.76%. “I aim to be prime minister for all the French people, if the French give us their votes,” said Jordan Bardella , the 28-year-old RN party leader. The far right has never won the first round of a French parliamentary election before. The fact that it was even possible is historic, according to veteran commentator Alain Duhamel.
What Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella will hope for is an absolute majority of the 289 out of 577 seats in the National Assembly. Next Sunday will see the second round run-off votes where they could still fall short. Without an absolute majority, France will end up with a hung parliament and RN will not be able to push through its plans, including immigration, tax cuts, and law and order.
Macron did not need to call an election but following RN’s win in European elections, he said that it was the “most responsible solution.” IT was a gamble that “now threatens to turn the political order on its head,” the BBC said, as 10.6 million French citizens chose RN. With a 66.7% turnout, it was the highest for a parliamentary first round since 1997.
