At least 200 candidates have quit the French election race to block the far-right party from coming into power as the step would prevent splitting of anti-right votes, an international media agency reported. In a surprising turn of events Marine’s Le Pen National Rally emerged as the clear front runner in the first round of the French parliamentary elections leaving President Emmanuel Macron to centrist camp trailing in third place behind a quickly assembled left wing alliance.
Of these candidates, 83 were from Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble party and rest from Popular Front and France Unbowed. Macron’s decision to call the early election appears to have been backfired. Despite the efforts to create a “republican front” to prevent the anti-immigrant, eurosceptic party from gaining power, it remains unclear whether the National Rally can secure the 289 seats required for a majority.
Initial pollsters estimate put the National Rally on course to win the between 250-300 seats, but this was before the strategic withdrawals and cross party appeals for voters to support the candidate most likely to defeat the local National Rally opponent. “The match is not over, we must mobilise all out forces,” Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of France was quoted by an international media agency.
The National Rally stance against the further EU (European Union) integration and its plans to reduce the funding to the EU have raised concerns. Human rights organisations have expressed apprehension about how the party’s France first and anti-migration policies might impact ethnic minorities, while economists question the feasibility of its substantial spending plans.
Financial markets have experienced gains on July 1, 2024, relieved that the far right did not perform better, However the reaction has been tempered by the possibility of the hung parliament, which could lead to policy paralysis for the remainder of Macron’s presidency until 2027.
The recent surge and a possible victory by the National Rally in French elections, the ethnic minorities living in France have expressed their fears as the Le Pen’s party advocates for the banning of the hijab in public whereas her protégé, Jordan Bardella who could become France’s next Prime Minister has called the veil a tool of discrimination.
