Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party came out ahead in the first round of French parliamentary elections this Sunday (30), exit polls showed, but the unpredictable final result will depend on days of negotiation before next week’s second round.
Polls estimate that RN will have around 34% of the votes, according to different surveys carried out by Ipsos, Ifop, OpinionWay and Elabe.
That is higher than that of rival leftists — in a coalition that includes the radical left — and centrists, with President Emmanuel Macron’s Juntos alliance expected to take 20.5% to 23% of the vote. The New Popular Front, a hastily assembled leftist coalition, was expected to win about 29% of the vote, polls showed.
The results of the high-turnout vote, which were in line with polls ahead of the election, provided little clarity on whether the anti-immigrant, eurosceptic RN will be able to form a government alongside the pro-EU Macron.
There is now a week of political negotiations before the July 7 runoff. The final outcome will depend on how the parties decide to join forces in each of France’s 577 constituencies for the second round. In the past, France’s center-right and center-left parties have joined forces to prevent the RN from taking power, but this dynamic, called a “republican front” in France, is less certain than ever.
The French president’s decision this month to call early elections has plunged his country into political uncertainty, sent shockwaves across Europe and triggered a sell-off of French assets on financial markets.
A longtime pariah, the RN is now closer to power than ever. Le Pen has sought to detox a party known for racism and anti-Semitism, a tactic that has worked against a backdrop of voter anger at Macron, the high cost of living and growing concerns about immigration.
Source: CNN Brasil
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