French voters yesterday cast ballots in the first round of high-stakes snap parliamentary elections that could alter the country’s trajectory and see the far-right party of Marine Le Pen take power in a historic first.
French President Emmanuel Macron stunned the nation by calling snap polls after the far-right National Rally (RN) party’s strong showing in European Parliament elections this month.
With Russia’s war against Ukraine in its third year and energy and food prices much higher, support for the anti-immigration and euroskeptic party has surged despite Macron’s pledges to prevent its ascent.
Photo: Reuters
The two-round vote could put the far-right in power in France for the first time since the Nazi occupation in World War II.
Polling stations opened across mainland France at 8am and would close 12 hours later, immediately followed by projections that usually predict the result with a degree of accuracy.
Many voters said they were concerned about the future.
“I don’t recognize my country anymore,” Roxane Lebrun, 40, said in the southwestern city of Bordeaux. “We have to keep fighting for what we believe in and what we want for France.”
“These are not easy elections. The results are very uncertain, and the repercussions could be serious for society,” added Julien Martin, a 38-year-old architect.
Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, cast their ballots in Le Touquet in northern France.
Today, the French president plans to convene a government meeting to decide the next course of action, sources said.
Most polls show the RN party on course to win the largest number of seats in the French National Assembly, the parliament’s lower house — although it remains unclear if it would secure an outright majority.
Final opinion polls have given the RN 35 to 37 percent of the vote — against 27.5 to 29 percent for the left-wing New Popular Front alliance and 20 to 21 percent for Macron’s centrist camp.
If the RN obtains an absolute majority, party head Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 28-year-old protege with no governing experience, could become prime minister in a tense “cohabitation” with Macron.
Many analysts say that France is facing a hung Assembly, which could lead to deadlock and political instability.
As of noon, turnout in mainland France was 25.9 percent, an increase from the 18.43 percent recorded in legislative elections in 2022.
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