The election result in France foreshadows difficult times and the deepening of dividing lines, writes ‘s France reporter Annastiina Heikkilä.
Annastiina Heikkilä
PARIS
The result of the first round of the French parliamentary elections was described in France as exceptional and historic. The far-right National Coalition won 34 percent of the vote and is closer to coming to power than at any other time in the history of France’s Fifth Republic.
The young chairman of the national coalition Jordan Bardella has said he will become prime minister if his party gets an absolute majority in parliament. It is possible based on the predictions made based on the result of the first round.
Bardella gave a speech on Sunday evening, the tone of which was markedly statesmanlike. Considered to be the real leader of the party and the next president of France Marine Le Pen on the other hand, he urged the citizens to go to the polls next Sunday and promised that the change of France is at hand.
The change is guaranteed to be known. Ahead seems to be a rare “cohabitation” situation in France, where the prime minister and the president would represent different parties and pull politics in different directions.
The election result predicts a deepening of the dividing lines
The far-right enters the second round of the parliamentary elections in a very strong position, but predicting the final result is made difficult by France’s two-stage electoral system with hundreds of constituencies.
In France, a tactical game has now begun, where parties and candidates bequeath their votes. For example, left-wing leaders have called on the candidates who finished third in their constituencies to give up the race and their voters to group together against the far-right.
It seems that the president Emmanuel Macron the gamble is turning against him. The first round of voting is a protest against the president, who has been accused of arrogance and elitism.
At the same time, all the problems of the French system have been pointed at Macron, which the new prime minister is unlikely to be able to solve either. So there will be more dissatisfaction.
The atmosphere in France is currently very tense and the result of the first round of the elections predicts a strengthening of the dividing lines and an increase in uncertainty.
France’s instability is reflected in the whole of Europe and is bad news for Finland as well.