Insights from The Irish Times, Politico and Euronews
The news
French president Emmanuel Macron then called for a “broad” democratic alliance against the far right Marine Le Pen‘s National Rally achieved a historic victory in the first round of the parliamentary elections.
Macron’s centrists now find themselves in a precarious position after finishing third, behind a left-wing bloc in second place. The result is a major setback for the president whose call for early elections sent shockwaves through France and the rest of the world.
Markets, however, were relieved as traders bet that Le Pen’s party would fall short of an outright majority after Sunday’s second round of voting. But Macron now faces a “bitterly painful choice,” Politico noted, over whether to withdraw his candidates from areas where left-wing candidates could win in order to keep the far right at bay.
SIGNALS
Absolute majority still a challenge for Le Pen
Securing an outright majority is still seen as an uphill battle for the National Rally, as candidates from rival parties who fared poorly in the first round could drop out of the race, preventing a vote split and thereby jeopardizing support from the far right is pulled away. Macron faces two scenarios: If Le Pen scores a major victory on Sunday, the president will be forced to govern alongside the National Rally and appoint 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, the party’s president, as prime minister. If the National Rally fails to secure a majority, “Macron could face a hung parliament unable to govern the EU’s second-largest economy and its top military power,” The Irish Times noted.
France in ‘uncharted waters’
Macron and his prime minister, Gabriel Attal, called on French citizens on Monday to prevent the Rassemblement National from winning an outright majority. Macron must now also crucially consider whether to tell his candidates to withdraw from the race to avoid splitting votes “or try to save what’s left of his once-dominant movement before it dies,” Politico noted. The president called early elections in an attempt to halt the rise of the far right in France after stunning European election gains for the Rassemblement National – but the vote has only bolstered the party’s growing support. The country faces “uncharted waters,” Politico added: “The country would be governed, at least in part, by politicians who made their names sympathizing with Vladimir Putin while promising to tear up the European Union, wage war on migration and pull out of NATO.”
Defeated Macron’s party in short order
The election can be read as a protest vote against Macron’s handling of key issues in France, a political analyst told Euronews. But while there is “no hope for the presidential party in the short term,” François-Xavier Millet, a professor at the University of the Antilles, told the newspaper, a National Rally majority could give Macron leverage to counter the waning to revive support for his centrist party. coalition. “If the far right leads the government, Macron could try to regain some kind of political legitimacy in the long term by presenting himself as guarantor of the constitution, in an attempt to protect the French from some of the far right decisions,” said Millet. said.
