RN Marine Le Pen received about 34 percent of the vote, according to the first post-election surveys conducted by several opinion research institutions on Sunday. As a result, the RN could achieve a relative or absolute majority after the second round on 7 July.
The coalition of the Left and the Greens, NUPES, came second with around 29 percent. President Emmanuel Macron’s group, Ensemble, is in third place with around 21 percent.
AP/Thibault Camus
RN voters wave French flags and celebrate the success of the election
The second decisive ballot
But the second round of voting next Sunday will be decisive – then it will be decided how many seats the blocs will get in the National Assembly. For Macron, the result is a bitter defeat. He was counting on the early election to extend the relative majority of his central forces in the lower house. That now seems highly unlikely. Macron’s Liberals are in danger of falling just 60 to 100 seats.
Initial forecasts assume that right-wing Marine Le Pen and her allies could be the strongest force in the lower house with 230 to 280 seats. They could, however, lose a clear majority of 289 seats.
The Left could also make gains and get 125 to 200 seats. However, precise statements about the distribution of seats are difficult so far. Before the second round of elections, the parties can create local alliances that influence the outcome of the election.
APA/AFP/Ludovic Marin
After the victory, Macron called for a “broad, democratic and republican coalition” against the RN.
Macron: “Make a broad alliance against the RN”
Given the electoral victory of the right-wing, Macron called for a broad coalition. “In view of the Rassemblement National, it is necessary to establish a broad, democratic and republican coalition for the second round of elections,” Macron said on Sunday, according to the Elysee.
The high number of voters in the first round “shows the importance of this election for all our colleagues and the will to clarify the political situation,” the President emphasized. “Your democratic election forces us,” he said. At more than 60 percent, voter turnout was higher than it had been in many years.
It is currently not predictable that the various grassroots political actors will come together to form a governing coalition after the election. Without a clear majority in the National Assembly, France would face gridlock. Because the National Assembly can overthrow the government, it needs a majority in the parliamentary chamber to do its job.
APA/AFP/Francois Lo Presti
Len Pen is campaigning for a clear majority in the French parliament
The French Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, announced that around 60 government candidates would withdraw in the second round. This should prevent right-wing populist candidates from winning, he said on Sunday evening in Paris. “No vote can go to the Rassemblement National,” he said.
Le Pen: Macron bloc “almost wiped out”
Le Pen, however, welcomed the result. Macron’s bloc is “practically destroyed,” Le Pen said in an initial reaction Sunday afternoon.
“The French have shown their will to turn the page on seven years of contemptible and corrosive power” said Macron, who was elected in the first round in her northern constituency. She also asked the French to give the RN a “clear majority” for their party in the second round of voting.
RN party leader Jordan Bardella made a similar statement. The voters had made a “final judge”. The second round of elections will be “one of the most decisive in history”. Bardella, 28, who aims to become prime minister if his party wins a clear majority, said he wanted to be “the prime minister of all the French people.”
Left-wing populists announce the withdrawal of the candidates
The left-wing populist party La France Insoumise (LFI), like Attal, announced that it would withdraw its candidates in the second round in certain constituencies. In constituencies where the LFI came in third place and the Rassemblement National (RN) in first place, the LFI candidates managed to withdraw, said Jean-Luc Melenchon, LFI boss, on Sunday afternoon.
“We will not let the RN win anywhere,” said Melenchon. “Our election proposal is simple, direct and clear: no more votes, no more seats for the RN,” he continued. Melenchon described the election as “an undeniable big victory” for Macron.
Appeal to “prevent disaster for France”
French social democrat Raphael Glucksmann called for a decisive fight against right-wing populists. “We have seven days to prevent a catastrophe for France,” Glucksmann said on Sunday afternoon. “This is no longer a general election, this is a referendum. Do we want (…) right-wing extremists to come to power through the ballot box for the first time ever in our history?”
Glucksmann, who was the main candidate of the French Socialists in the European elections, said he was no longer involved in political affiliations. Wherever candidates from the left coalition came third, the candidature will be withdrawn and people will be asked to vote for the person in the constituency who can beat the RN candidate. Glucksmann declared that there was no hesitation on the left.
Thousands demonstrating against RN
Meanwhile, in Paris and many other cities, many people took to the streets on Sunday evening and demonstrated against Marine Le Pen’s party and the shift to the right in France. In the capital, demonstrators gathered on the Place de la Republique following a call from the new left-wing coalition. Leading left-wing politicians also joined the protest there.
Protest rallies and marches were also held in Nantes, Dijon, Lille and Marseille. According to media reports, there were clashes between demonstrators and the police in France’s third largest city, Lyon. Barricades were erected and bottles and fireworks were thrown at the officers. Several shop windows were also broken.