New Poll Predicts First Far Right Government, France’s far-right party may be on the brink of power after winning the first round of snap parliamentary elections.
Hundreds of leftist protesters flooded the streets and clashed with police in Paris as they set off fireworks and flares.
Current President Emmanuel Macron’s party and its allies trailed in the polls as Marine Le Pen’s national rally entered the first round of legislative elections on Sunday.
Le Pen said Macron’s alliance was “almost destroyed” during the first two rounds.
His party reached 33 percent of the vote, while the leftist New Popular Front came second with 28 percent.
Macron’s centrist bloc trailed with just 20 percent, the interior ministry said.
France’s current prime minister, Gabriel Eis, said the far-right “sits at the door of power”.
He then called on voters to rally against him in the second round of polling on July 7.
A national rally aims for an absolute majority – but the next round could lead to a hung parliament.
Concerned French leaders will hope to form a so-called “Republican Front” to stop the national rally.
But the polls have raised questions about whether disaffected voters will be willing to rally against him.
Macron took a gamble in calling a snap election last month – which appears to have backfired.
And he called on the French public to rally round “clearly republican and democratic” candidates.
Yesterday’s results led to a flood of demonstrators on the streets of Paris, which will host the Olympics in a few weeks.
Dozens of protesters also scaled the Place de la République as police and firefighters tried to quell the tension.
Dramatic pictures show flames and shop windows smashed.
Police fired tear gas as firefighters tried to put out the fire.
The demonstrations were in response to Le Pen’s first round victory.
France has not been under far-right leadership since World War II, when Philippe Pétain and his prime minister Pierre Laval led the Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Nazis.
At least 289 are needed for an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the lower house of France’s parliament.
Le Pen addressed cheering supporters in her northern constituency of Henin-Beaumont.
She said: “Democracy has spoken and the French have put the RN and its allies on top, practically destroying the Macron camp.”
Le Pen added that the people clearly wanted to “turn the page after seven years of despicable and damaged rule” and asked people to vote for the RN again. Next Sunday in the second round.
“We need an absolute majority so that [RN President] “Jordan Bardella can be appointed Prime Minister in a week’s time,” she continued.
However, opposition parties are prioritizing blocking the possibility of a far-right takeover.
Less than an hour after polls closed this evening, attention turned to the second round of voting on July 7.
While the second round often pits two candidates against each other, due to high turnout, dozens of three-way races are expected for some seats.
Some leaders are considering pulling their people out of those seats altogether in order to get more votes for their allies and retain – for example – a winning RN candidate.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who heads the hard-left France Unbowed party, has just said: “We will not allow anywhere. [far-right] A national rally to win.”
Macron called the vote, hoping that the NR’s victory in the European elections three weeks ago would prove to be a flash in the pan.
But with Le Pen and Bardella potentially increasing their vote share again, the president is among leaders calling for a strategic vote to stop them.
How do French elections work?
By Ellie Doughty
The French public choose their president and MPs in separate elections – unlike in the UK where the country’s leader, the PM, is determined by which party has a majority in parliament.
There are 577 seats – and constituencies – in France’s National Assembly.
The party will need 289 seats for an absolute majority in the government.
French parliamentary elections are made up of two rounds, with anyone failing to win 12.5% of the vote in their constituency first being kicked out.
If any candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in their area, and at least a quarter of the local voter pool turns out to vote for them, they automatically win a seat.
It doesn’t happen often, but RN thinks it could happen in dozens of seats this time.
The second round, for any seats that the candidates do not win outright, is followed by a series of knock-outs contested by two, three or sometimes four candidates.
Some candidates may drop their allies before the second round on July 7 to give them a better chance over other candidates in a three- or four-way race.
French leaders are urging candidates and voters to act strategically to stem the far-right surge.
But polls show voters are unwilling to vote strategically and form a united movement to stop the so-called “Republican Front” – a national rally.
Odoxa’s poll found that only 41 percent of voters were willing to vote to block the RN – while some 47 percent would vote to block the NFP or some 44 percent altogether.
second round, Next Sunday will be “the most consequential” since the Fifth Republic was founded in 1958, Bardella said.
In an address to the nation from the Elysée presidential palace, Macron said on the election announcement: “I have decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future by voting.
“Therefore I am dissolving the National Assembly.
“This decision is serious, heavy. But above all it is an act of faith.”
