France was rocked by political unrest yesterday after Marine Le Pen’s far-right party won the first round of snap elections.
Violence broke out in the streets of Paris after the announcement of the results, with protesters smashing shop windows, setting fire to rubbish and setting off flares.
Riot police clashed with demonstrators on the Place de la Republique, the centre of angry demonstrations against the rise of Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) party.
The party won 33 percent of all votes in the first round of the national election, leaving President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance in third place behind a left-wing coalition.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal warned that RN was at the “gates of power” and urged parties to work together to prevent the hard right from gaining an outright majority. Polls suggest that RN is the only party that could win Sunday’s second round of voting outright, although they predict it is unlikely to get the 289 seats needed for an outright majority in the 577-seat National Assembly.
People gather to protest against the far-right French Rassemblement National party after partial results in the first round of elections, in Paris, France, on June 30
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife First Lady Brigitte Macron
Opponents of RN hope that tactical voting in the second round can block the takeover.
France’s two-round election system means that candidates in three-way races can withdraw in an attempt to unite voters behind a single opponent. Mr Attal urged his own party’s candidates to withdraw if they were in third place behind RN and a left-wing candidate, saying voters had a “moral” duty to prevent RN from winning an outright majority.
According to a count by the French newspaper Le Monde, 169 candidates had withdrawn yesterday. The deadline for withdrawals is tonight.
RN’s result on Sunday was unprecedented for a populist hard-right party in France, with the left-wing alliance New Popular Front winning 28 percent of the vote, while Macron’s Ensemble won just 22 percent.
Leader of the French far-right Rassemblement National Marine Le Pen and the party’s lead candidate for the upcoming European elections Jordan Bardella during a political rally on June 2, 2024 in Paris
French protest against far-right Rassemblement National during elections
If the RN wins an absolute majority, it could form the first far-right government in France since World War II and install Jordan Bardella, a protégé of Le Pen, as prime minister.
There were intense negotiations between the rivals over which candidates should withdraw from the three-way matches, known as ‘triangulaires’. Left-wing MEP Raphael Glucksmann said: ‘We have seven days to save France from catastrophe.’
Mr Macron has previously warned that a victory for RN could put France on the path to civil war. He called the early elections after his party suffered a humiliating defeat in the European Parliament elections, where RN won 32 percent of the vote in France. His critics accused him of taking a reckless gamble with France’s political future.
RN, which has a history of racism, has said it wants to restrict immigration and expand police powers.
On Sunday night, after the first round of voting was announced, Macron called for a “broad” alliance against the RN. However, he questioned whether the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI), led by Jean-Luc Melenchon and part of the Nouveau Popular Front alliance, should be involved.
The party’s leader, Mr Melenchon, is a deeply divisive figure in French politics, thanks to his proposals for higher taxes and spending and his rhetoric about class struggle.
Bardella, 28, urged voters to give his party an absolute win.
He said France faced an “existential threat” from the left, whom he called “agents of chaos”.