Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party made historic gains and won the first round of French parliamentary elections, but the final result will depend on alliances in the days leading up to next week's second round.
According to the official results announced by the Ministry of Interior on Monday, the National Rally Party and its allies obtained 33% of the votes in the first round of elections. The New Popular Front coalition came in second place, obtaining 28% of the votes. The Center Alliance, to which President Emmanuel Macron belongs, won only 20% of the votes.
This represents a major setback for Macron, who called for early elections after his defeat to the National Rally party in the European Parliament elections last month.
But the chances of the National Rally, which is anti-immigration and skeptical of the feasibility of European Union membership, succeeding in forming a government will depend on the decisive round that takes place next week and the extent to which other parties succeed in defeating Le Pen by rallying around rival candidates who have better chances in electoral districts across France.
The leaders of the leftist New Popular Front and the Center Alliance, to which Macron belongs, explained yesterday evening, Sunday, that they will withdraw their candidates in areas where another candidate has a better chance of defeating the National Rally Party in the second round next Sunday.
The National Rally, long a pariah for many in France, is closer to power than ever before.
Le Pen sought to improve the image of a party known for its racism and anti-Semitism, an approach that has proven successful amid voter anger at Macron, rising costs of living and growing concerns about immigration.
The formation of a government led by the National Rally Party would raise major questions about the future of the European Union, given that the party opposes strengthening integration with the European Union.
On Monday, National Rally Party legislators urged politicians from the center-right movement of the Republican Party, who received less than 7% of the first round votes, to withdraw from areas where such a move might be in the Rally Party’s interest.
“If they know they will not win, I call on them to step down and let the National Rally win,” Laure Lavalette, a deputy from the National Rally party, told RTL radio.
Currently, the Republican Party, which split before the vote with a small number of its members joining the National Rally, has given no indication of its position.
All candidates who successfully passed the first round have until Tuesday evening to confirm whether they will proceed to the second round.
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