Macron calls for a "great democratic and republican union" after Le Pen's victory
- Mélenchon presents the left-wing bloc as the only alternative to Le Pen
- "Our objective is to prevent RN from obtaining an absolute majority"
Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party has won 33% of the vote in the first round of France's legislative elections, ahead of the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition and President Emmanuel Macron's centrist bloc, Ensemble.
After learning the results, the leader of the French far-right has called on her supporters to vote for RN again next Sunday in the second round to achieve an "absolute majority" that would allow her candidate, Jordan Bardella, to govern without depending on President Macron.
Le Pen, who has based much of her election campaign on issues such as immigration and security, already achieved a landslide victory in the European elections in June, winning 31.5% of the vote, making RN the first French political party to receive more than 30% of the vote in European elections since 1984.
Following this victory of the far-right in France, and due to his party's defeat, Macron opted to dissolve the National Assembly and call legislative elections in order to "return to the electorate the choice of the country's political future".
In these latest elections, the president's centrist bloc once again suffered a setback, coming third, behind the left-wing coalition, with 21% of the vote. Faced with this scenario, and with a high possibility of a new victory for RN next Sunday, Macron has called for a "great democratic and republican union" to prevent the victory of the ultra-right.
"Faced with National Rally, the time has come for a great union, clearly democratic and republican for the second round," the current president stressed in an official statement.
Despite his defeat, Macron welcomed the high turnout in this first round, as this "demonstrates the importance of this vote for all French people and the desire to clarify the political situation". The turnout in these elections reached 65.8%, almost 20 points higher than in the previous elections in 2022, which was 47.5%.
Mélenchon presents the left-wing bloc as the only alternative to Le Pen
For his part, the leader of the France Insoumise (LFI), Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has positioned himself as the only alternative to the far-right after the NFP's left-wing union reached 28% of the vote, coming in second place.
In order to avoid splitting the vote against Le Pen, Mélenchon has announced that in the second round of the legislative elections on 7 July, they will withdraw their candidacies where they have come third.
"Not one more vote for the RN, not one more seat for the RN", stressed the leader of the French left, who once again attacked Macron for dissolving the National Assembly and calling early elections, assuring that this decision has damaged him after the "hard and indisputable defeat of the president, his candidate (Prime Minister Gabriel Attal) and the presidential majority".
The NFP - which includes the LFI, the Socialist Party, the ecologists and the communists - was set up shortly after the European elections in response to Le Pen's victory and with the aim of creating a left-wing alliance that could stop the far right in the legislative elections.
"Our objective is to prevent RN from obtaining an absolute majority"
The prime minister, Gabriel Attal, has announced a similar move to Mélenchon, indicating that candidates in Macron's coalition who got enough votes to take part in the second round but have no chance of winning will withdraw so as not to split the vote.
"Our objective now is to prevent RN from obtaining an absolute majority and running the country with its disastrous project," he said.
For the moment, the president's party has already announced the withdrawal of one of its candidates, Albane Branlant, who came third in the Somme constituency. Branlant stated that he was referring to dropping out because of "the risk that RN will have an absolute majority in the National Assembly".
For the second round, polls by France Télévisions and Radio France rule out an absolute majority for RN for the time being, with Le Pen's party estimated to win between 230 and 280 seats in the General Assembly, short of the 289 needed.
