French left-wing coalition projected to beat the far right in surprise second-round result
After a markedly high turnout, the NFP – a cluster of five parties ranging from the far-left France Unbowed party to the more moderate Socialists and the Ecologists – was projected to win between 172 and 192 seats in the National Assembly, making it the largest party, but falling short of the 289 seats required to form an absolute majority.
President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance, which had slumped to a dismal third in the first round of voting last Sunday, has since recovered strongly and is projected to win between 150 and 170 seats. Despite leading after the first round of votes, the far-right National Rally (RN) was projected to win between 132 and 152 seats.
The RN’s strong showing in the first round stirred fears that France could be on the cusp of electing its first far-right government since the collaborationist Vichy regime of World War II. But Sunday’s projection comes as a huge upset and shows French voters’ overwhelming desire to keep the far-right from gaining power.
After the first round, an unprecedented number of seats – over 300 – went to a three-way runoff between Ensemble, the NFP and the RN. By Tuesday, more than 200 centrist and left-wing candidates withdrew from the second round, in a bid to avoid splitting the vote.
The hastily assembled NFP formed less than a month ago, after Macron called the snap vote following his party’s disastrous loss to the RN in last month’s European Parliament election.
The capacious – and potentially fractious – coalition chose its name in an attempt to resurrect the original Popular Front that blocked the far-right from gaining power in 1936. If Sunday’s projection is confirmed, the NFP will have achieved this aim.
This is a breaking story. More to come...
The NFP's success in securing a significant number of seats in the National Assembly indicates France's commitment to preventing the far-right from gaining power, a goal shared during the formation of the Popular Front in Europe during the 1930s.
Despite concerns following the RN's strong performance in the first round, the outcome of the second round elections shows that Europe and the world are closely watching France's political landscape, hoping to maintain democratic values and stability.
