Right-wing populist National Assembly becomes the largest party in the first round of the French parliamentary election, polling station polls show.
They get 34 percent of the votes – and hope for their own majority.
Various surveys give the National Assembly (RN) around 34 percent of the vote, against the left-wing alliance NFP 28. President Emmanuel Macron’s center alliance Together gets 20 percent.
For the 577 seats in the parliament, between 65 and 85 members are estimated to have been directly elected on Sunday, including Marine Le Pen herself.
– Democracy has spoken. We need an absolute majority so that (party leader) Jordan Bardella can be appointed prime minister in a week, Le Pen speaks at an election meeting at home in the Hénin-Beaumont constituency.
Calls to gathering
A large number of “three emperor battles” between candidates from the three major parties are now likely when the second round is decided in a week’s time, on July 7.
At the same time, President Emmanuel Macron calls for a rally against the far right.
“The time has come to come together clearly democratically and republicanly for the second round,” Macron said in a statement.
The election result paves the way for a tense week before the final round.
Already on Sunday, French police were on high alert for possible protests and demonstrations.
Enormously high participation
Voter turnout has been surprising with preliminary figures of 67 percent – compared to just under 48 percent in the last parliamentary election in 2022.
It was on the evening after the EU elections on June 9, that President Emmanuel Macron announced new elections. His center alliance had a disastrous election and the far-right National Gathering (RN) became the clear largest party.