Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally (RN) notched an emphatic, though uncertain, victory following the first round of France’s parliamentary election, according to exit polls. The RN won approximately 34 percent of the vote, well ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s Together alliance, which is thought to have secured less than 24 percent of the vote. At the same time, the left-wing coalition earned about 29 percent.
“The French people have shown that they want to draw a line under seven years of [Macron’s] disdainful rule. We haven’t won yet, the second round will be crucial. . . . We need an absolute majority so that Jordan Bardella, in eight days, can be appointed prime minister by Emmanuel Macron,” said Le Pen.
The ultimate result relies on a second round of voting, in which Le Pen’s RN needs 289 seats to secure a majority in the 577-seat National Assembly. As of Sunday’s polling, the RN is expected to fall short of that mark with between 230 and 280 seats. However, the week between the elections will see political maneuvering from all parties that could radically change predictions. Turnout for the first round was at a 27-year high, with 66 percent of eligible voters taking part.
The first round’s results are a blow to President Macron, who called for the snap election after his party’s defeat in the EU elections. With his party finishing third on Sunday, the president is expected to remain in office no matter the result, having three years left in his term. What he would be able to accomplish with a parliament controlled by the RN — or hobbled by it, should he only manage a plurality — has the country’s political center and left deeply concerned.
“The extreme right is at the doors of power,” said French prime minister Gabriel Attal, excoriating the RN while demanding of voters that “not one vote should go to National Rally.”
But the prime minister’s expectations of his countrymen may fall on deaf ears, as the French public has become increasingly frustrated with the combination of inflation, immigration, and a diluted national identity.
“We vote by default, for the least worse option. I prefer to vote than do nothing,” said 64-year-old Philippe Lempereur when interviewed by the Associated Press.