Parliamentary elections - "An embarrassing result for Macron" - how the press reacts to the shift to the right in France
What has transpired in France during the European elections is now becoming a reality on a national level: The Right-wing populists of the Rassemblement National have swept the legislative elections - a absolute majority is even possible. "The far-right is at the threshold of power," conceded French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on a Sunday evening in Paris.
The international press reacts shocked – yet not surprised – to the landslide victory of the Right under Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella.
"An embarrassing result for Macron"
"Wall Street Journal" (USA): "If you're gambling with Emmanuel Macron in a casino, don't mimic his bets. The French president rolled the dice by calling for a snap election to the National Assembly, and on Sunday he and his Centrist party ended up in a weak third place in the first round. The big winners were the parties of the Right and the Left (...) This is an embarrassing result for Macron, who set the unnecessary snap election after the Rassemblement National performed poorly in the recent election for the European Parliament. His bet was that the voters would sober up when it came to the National Assembly. Instead, they gave themselves an extra helping, more interested in sending a message of discontent than in Macron's version of centrist sobriety."
"De Tijd" (Belgium): "These results don't tell us much about the final distribution of seats in parliament yet (...) The question now is, which camp will field the challenger to the RN in the constituencies: Macron's coalition or the Left Front Populaire. Macron had counted on his coalition being in the lead. However, he was caught off guard by the rapid formation of a Left front that immediately followed his announcement of advanced elections. Now, Macron risks having to cede the initiative to the Left if his candidate only came in third. Macron saw the advanced elections as a sort of popular referendum on his politics in the middle of his second term. But he underestimated his strength."
France closed against the right?
"El Pais" (Spain): "The victory of the Rassemblement National (...) in the first round of the parliamentary elections puts the other parties in a responsible position. Either they join forces in the second round to defeat Marine Le Pen's RN, or they risk paving the way for a right-wing extremist government in France within a week (...). The far-right has developed strategically so that it receives less rejection. (...) Moreover, many voters in the center and moderate right (...) consider the Le Pen party to be the same as that of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of La France Insoumise. (...) Fortunately, there seems to be a willingness to bridge these differences."
"The Italian 'La Stampa': With his decision to dissolve the National Assembly, President Emmanuel Macron aimed to rally a republican front around himself to position himself as the only authentic bulwark against the far-right extremes and to once again win the political bet in 2017 and 2022. Due to the numerous divisions between the moderate Left and the radical Left of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he did not reckon with these forces coming together in the form of a new People's Front for the election. Emmanuel Macron has lost this game. The president finds himself facing a country split into three camps, with the very real possibility that the republican right and the Left will for the first time be unable to align to prevent the far-right from holding power."
- Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National, led by Jordan Bardella, is poised for an absolute majority in the upcoming parliamentary election in France, according to recent projections.
- The shift to the right in France, as evident in the European elections, is causing concern in political circles both within and outside of France, including in the USA with Wallstreet closely watching the developments.
- Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne acknowledged the strong performance of the far-right Rassemblement National during the European elections, stating, "The far-right is at the threshold of power."
- The contest for the remaining seats in the parliamentary election in France will be between Macron's coalition and the left-wing front, as both aim to prevent the Rassemblement National from gaining an outright majority.
- Gabriel Attal, a key figure in Macron's government, has called for unity among the moderate Left and center-right parties in France to counter the rising influence of the Rassemblement National and keep the far-right out of the national leadership.
- Paris has seen its share of political upheaval in recent times, with the wave of right-wing populism evident in both the European and parliamentary elections.
- The European elections in France have set the stage for a significant power shift in the country, with the Rassemblement National challenging the status quo and calling for a fundamental change in the political landscape of France.
