France reacts to the far-right’s big victory in the first round of its surprise election
For many, France feels very different on Monday.
Results from first round of legislative electionsheld on Sunday, revealed a deeply fractured country, with a far right is emerging won a record number of votes and the collapse of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party.
“The far right is in power,” proclaimed the front page of the daily Le Parisien the morning after the first half of the snap election called by Mr Macron.
“Twelve million of our people voted for a far-right party that is clearly racist and anti-Republican,” the left-leaning newspaper Libération declared in an editorial, referring to the National Rally party of Marine Le Pen. “The head of state threw France under the bus, the bus continued without slowing down, and now it is parked in front of the gates of Matignon” — the prime minister’s office.
If the National Rally Party wins an absolute majority in Sunday’s election, Mr. Macron will be forced to appoint a prime minister from the party’s ranks, who will in turn form a cabinet.
There is a sense of discontent and skepticism at the political decline of Mr. Macron’s party, which along with its allies holds the most seats, but not an absolute majority, in the National Assembly. That centrist coalition finished in third place in the first round of the two-round election race. Only two of his candidates – and not one of the ministers running for a seat – had enough votes to be re-elected without having to run, compared with 37 members of Xi’s Party. the far-right National Assembly and 32 of the Democratic Party. a coalition of left-wing parties known as the New Popular Front, came in second.
The results of the first round of voting are not usually a reliable predictor of how many seats each party will win in parliament. But the National Rally is now likely to be the largest force in the powerful parliament. The question is whether it will have enough seats to win an outright majority.
If that doesn’t happen, the National Assembly will most likely become unmanageable, with Mr. Macron’s centrist party and its allies caught between the right and left and with greatly reduced power.
“End of an era,” declared the front page of Les Echos, the official business newspaper.
“When historians look back on the dissolution, they will have only one word: disaster!” stated an editorial in the conservative newspaper Le Figaro.
“Emmanuel Macron had everything, or almost everything,” it continued. “He has lost everything.”
In fact, the reaction to the vote reflects the divisions in the country. In the north, considered a stronghold of the far-right National Rally Party, there was jubilation.
“I will party all night,” Manuel Queco, 42, a contractor, said in a local hall in the town of Hénin-Beaumont, where Ms. Le Pen received series after series of congratulations. another on Sunday night, after she was elected in her own race. As the crowd of National Rally supporters erupted for a round of the national anthem, Mr. Queco raised his glass of Champagne. “I’ve been waiting for them to win since I was 18 years old.”
In Paris, the first round of results showed an electoral map that almost completely blocked the National Rally, but was split between the New Popular Front and the president’s party. But the dominant feeling on Place de la République, where thousands of left-wing supporters gathered on Sunday night, was sadness and sympathy.
“I never thought I would see this in my life — the far right running the country,” said Camille Hemard, 50, a Latin, Greek and French professor at an advanced placement college. She brought her 16-year-old daughter to find solace in the dancing crowd chanting “Everyone hates the fascists.”
“I hope my children won’t know this,” she added.
From radio, television and news sites, pollsters remind people that not everything is decided. Only 76 of the country’s 577 legislative seats were won outright. A battle will ensue for the remaining 501 this week, until the final vote on Sunday. The question many are asking is how many candidates will drop out of three-way races in a strategic move to prevent a far-right victory.
Official results published by the Ministry of the Interior showed that the National Rally and its allies won about 33 percent of the vote. Mr Macron’s centrist Renaissance Party and its allies won about 20 percent, and the New Popular Front won about 28 percent.
Segolène Le Stradic Contributed reporting from Hénin-Beaumont, France.
