French President Emmanuel Macron has struck a deal with the far-left New Popular Front (NFP) in order to keep Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN) from entering government, according to multiple reports.
More than 210 far-left or Macronist candidates have withdrawn from the election in hopes that it might prevent RN from obtaining a parliamentary majority, an AFP tally found, France 24 reported.
France held its first round of votes to the National Assembly on Sunday, where the French right-wing party performed well while Macron’s coalition came in third, according to Reuters. The RN received 33.15 percent of the vote, with the NFP coming in second at 22.99 percent and Macron’s Ensemble at 20.04 percent, a Twitter post from France 24 stated.
🗳️🇫🇷 Voici les résultats définitifs du premier tour des #ÉlectionsLégislatives de ce dimanche : le #RN et ses alliés obtiennent 33,15 % des suffrages, suivis par le #NFP (27,99 %) et #Ensemble (20,04 %).#Législatives2024 #ÉlectionsLégislatives2024 #Élections2024 pic.twitter.com/4nWHh2CJGR
— FRANCE 24 Français (@France24_fr) July 1, 2024
The New Popular Front is an alliance of far-left parties comprised of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed, the Socialist party, the Green party and the Communist Party, according to The Washington Post.
Macron and the far-left agreed to withdraw their third place candidates before the second round of voting on July 7, so that second place centrist or leftist candidates may defeat RN, France 24 reported.
RN is reportedly predicted to win between 250 and 300 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly.
In order to form a government, the party requires a majority of 289 seats, the outlet noted. (RELATED: Establishment Leaders Dig Heels In Against Overwhelming Right-Wing Victories In Europe)
On French radio, Marine Le Pen said a victory of 270 seats would allow RN to open talks to form a coalition government, according to the outlet.
If National Rally win enough seats to form a government, they will appoint 28-year-old Jordan Bardella to the position of Prime Minister and will have to cohabit government with Macron’s presidency, according to France 24.
Macron has previously labelled the far-left and far-right as threats to the French political establishment, according to The Washington Post.
The decision to cooperate with the far-left was made in order to hinder the creation of a right-wing government, Reuters reported.
