According to preliminary estimates of the voting results, in the first round of the French parliamentary elections, the nationalist Rassemblement Nationale is in first place with 33 per cent of the votes, French media reported.
The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance came second with 28 per cent, while President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Together coalition scored 20 per cent, the interior ministry said.
The result marks the first time the RN has won more than 20 per cent of the vote in a parliamentary elections and puts the party on track to form the first government elected by the far-right in the country’s history.
However, the final results and the exact composition of the 577-seat parliament are far from certain, and the RN’s chances of gaining power will depend on the political deals struck by its rivals in the coming days ahead of Sunday’s run-off.
In the past, traditional right-wing and left-wing parties have struck agreements to drop out of the run-off to avoid splitting the vote against the RN. But the tactical voting strategy known as the “republican front” aimed at blocking the RN is less certain now than ever.
NFP leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said the left-wing alliance would withdraw all of its third-place candidates in the first round, saying:
“Our guideline is simple and clear: not a single more vote for the National Rally.
In a written statement, Macron urged voters to support candidates who are “clearly Republican and Democrat.”
But judging by his recent statements, while that includes candidates representing the more moderate left-wing NFP parties, it excludes candidates from Mélenchon’s France Unbowed.
