French voters push far-right National Rally to strong lead in first round of electionExBulletin

PARIS The far-right National Rally took a solid lead on Sunday in the first round of French legislative elections, polling agencies predicted, bringing the party closer to being able to form a government in the second round and giving it a big slap in the face to centrist President Emmanuel Macron and his risky decision to call the snap vote.

When he dissolved the National Assembly on June 9, after a crushing defeat at the hands of the National Assembly in the French European Parliament vote, Macron gambled that the anti-immigration party with historical ties to anti-Semitism would not repeat that success when France's own fate hung in the balance.

But it didn't work out that way. With French polling agencies predicting that the National Rally and its allies took about a third of the national vote on Sunday, Macron's prime minister warned that France could end up with its first far-right government since World War Two , if the voters do not come. together to thwart that scenario in the second round next Sunday.

The extreme right is at the gates of power, said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. He twice described the political pledges of the National Rally as disastrous and said that in the second round of voting, no vote should go to the national rally. France does not deserve this”.

Projections by French polling agencies put Macron's group of centrist parties a distant third in the first round of voting, behind the National Rally and a new left-wing coalition of parties that joined forces to keep him from winning power. .

Securing a parliamentary majority would allow National Rally leader Marine Le Pen to install her 28-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella as prime minister and crown her years-long rebranding effort to make her party less abhorrent to primary voters. She inherited the party, then called the National Front, from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has multiple convictions for racist and anti-Semitic hate speech.

However, the National Rally is not there yet. With another heated week of campaigning ahead of the decisive final vote next Sunday, the final outcome of the election remains uncertain.

Addressing a jubilant crowd waving French tricolor blue, white and red flags, Le Pen called on her supporters and voters who did not support her party in the first round to push her over the line and give it a commanding legislative majority. That scenario would force Bardella and Macron into a difficult power-sharing deal. Macron, first elected in 2017, has said he will not step down before his second term expires in 2027.

The French have almost wiped out the Macronist bloc, Le Pen said. The results, she added, showed the will of the voters to turn the page after 7 years of contemptuous and corrosive power.

Early official results showed some remarkable gains for the far right. Le Pen herself was one of six National Rally candidates who won their races in Pas-de-Calais, a once heavily industrialized region of northern France, securing more than 50% of the vote in their constituencies on Sunday, which means they will win. t face a second round vote. National Assembly candidates were also ahead in the other six districts of the region going into the second round.

In Le Pen's neighborhood, 54-year-old voter Magali Quere said she used to find the far right scary “but not anymore.

Only the second round will make it clear whether Le Pens and her allies will get the absolute majority they would need to easily form a government and then begin to follow through on their promises to dismantle many of the Macron's main policies and foreign policy platforms. This would include halting French shipments of long-range missiles to Ukraine in the fight against a full-scale Russian invasion. The National Rally has historical ties with Russia.

The far-right's more confrontational approach to the European Union, its plans to roll back Macron's pension reforms and National Rally promises to boost voters' spending power without clearly detailing how it would pay for the pledge could also spook European financial markets. .

Opponents of the National Rally fear for civil liberties if he takes power. Macron himself warned that the far right could put France on the path to civil war. Her plans to increase police powers and curb immigration also alarm many people, including minorities. The National Rally has long been hostile to the French Muslim community.

“People don't realize that this will affect us for years and years. This is a France of hatred that is growing, not a France of solidarity and unity,” said Cynthia Fefoheio, a 19-year-old political science student, of which was among the thousands. people who gathered Sunday night in Paris Rpublique Plaza to protest against the National Rally.

Some polling agency forecasts indicated that in a best-case scenario for the far-right, the National Rally and its allies could collectively clear the bar of 289 seats needed for a secure majority in the 577-seat National Assembly.

But it could also fail, and no single bloc could end up with a clear majority, polling agencies predict. Predictions are difficult due to the two-round voting system.

Already on Sunday night, far-right opponents were strategizing how to concentrate votes against the National Rally in the second round, planning in some areas to withdraw their candidates to increase the chances of another candidate defeating a far-right rival. right.

The high turnout of at least 66%, according to poll estimates, reversed nearly three decades of declining voter interest in the first round of French legislative elections. That so many people voted, especially when many are preparing to embark on or have already begun the traditional summer holidays, showed how the fast-paced campaign and its high stakes galvanized the electorate. Many voters saw an opportunity to impose a government on Macron, to rebuke his presidency and force a change of course.

Many voters are frustrated with inflation and other economic concerns, as well as with Macron. The National Rally tapped into that discontent, particularly through online platforms like TikTok. She campaigned heavily on rising cost of living and immigration. The campaign was marred by growing hate speech.

People don't like what's going on, said Cynthia Justine, 44. People think they've lost a lot in the last few years. People are angry. i'm angry

Because I'm a black woman, it's even more important. A lot is at stake on this day,” she added.

The National Rally has questioned the right to citizenship for people born in France and wants to limit the rights of French citizens with dual citizenship. Critics say it undermines human rights and is a threat to France's democratic ideals.

At an election celebration in Le Pen's stronghold of Henin-Beaumont, 41-year-old Edouard Guillebot said the far-right's success had been a long time coming.

This is a revenge of the people against the elites, in the media and in politics, he said. I am one of those who voted for everyone. They lied to us by telling us that immigration was a chance for the country.