The far right has won the first round of the French parliamentary elections. Le Pen’s party, National Rally, has won 33.5% of the vote. In second place is the New Popular Front, the alliance of the main left-wing formations, while the centrist coalition around Emmanuel Macron’s party (Together for the Republic) is in third place. As soon as the results were known, thousands of people took to the streets and headed towards the Place de la République in Paris to show their rejection of the far right.
At the foot of the Marianne monument, thousands of people have gathered on the Place de la République, the epicenter of the left-wing protests in Paris. A crowd of people of all ages, but especially young people, roar among flags and banners, calling for the defeat of Marine Le Pen and Bardella. They are waiting for the start of the joint event of the New Popular Front, the progressive coalition placed in second place according to the polls, launched by Ecologists, Mélenchons Insoumise France, the Socialist Party or the Communist Party. “The youth are shitting on the National Group” or “we anti-fascists are here” are some of the shouts heard among the demonstrators. “We came here so they couldn't pass,” said a woman who approached the square with her friend after seeing Le Pen's results.
“I am here because my grandfather was a Spanish Republican who fled Spain to resist fascism and Francoism,” said a 34-year-old girl who approached the demonstration. “Now we are feeling the impact of fascism here. I don’t want it to reach France,” he added. “We are a multicultural country and that makes us who we are as a country. Next week Le Pen could win and that will mean the end of public services and freedom.”
“We come to defend the values of France: solidarity, equality, social values. “We want to fight fascism, as we have done at other times in history,” says another 31-year-old woman from the square. “The resistance is now. I didn’t think I would be saying this in 2024, but here we are.”
Several representatives of the New Popular Front appeared on the square's stage, receiving cheers and cheers from the crowd. “Today is the end of macronism,” said Marine Tondelier, thanking the “historic participation” in the elections. “The results of the New Popular Front are your results,” Manuel Bompard added. Mélenchon also participated, supported by the entire audience. At the end of the speeches, several protest songs were played, such as “The people, united, will never be defeated” or the partisan anthem “Bella ciao.”
The victory of the RN, its first in the legislative elections, is “unassailable”, according to what its candidate for prime minister, the xenophobic Jordan Bardella, has assured, who, like Le Pen, has called for a mobilization to achieve an absolute majority. in the second round. “Democracy has spoken”, declared a victorious Marine Le Pen from her fiefdom of Hénin-Beaumont, in the Pas-de-Calais department, to a room full of followers waving tricolor flags, to whom she announced that she had been re-elected. in her constituency in the first round. The party leader declared that the AN advantage shows that the voters “in an unequivocal vote, [han] “has shown his willingness to turn the page after seven years of Macron's arrogant and undermining government.”
After knowing the results, the reactions of the rest of the candidates were not long in coming. French President Emmanuel Macron, in a statement to the AFP agency, called for “a clearly democratic and republican broad union” against the far right in the second round of the parliamentary elections.
France Insoumise founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon has announced the withdrawal of the candidates who came third in the constituencies where the far right came out on top. “Not one more vote, not one more seat for AN. Our instructions are clear,” he said. Mélenchon has pointed out that the country 'must choose'. “Will it aggravate the worst divisions, those of social inequality and religious differences, or will it unite to form one people, committed to mutual aid and the common good without preconditions?” he asked in a speech at the conference celebrated the “hard and indisputable defeat” inflicted on Macron's side. Mélenchon quickly left as soon as he finished his words, flanked by the party coordinator, Manuel Bompard, who in a television interview deplored the “political mechanism that tries to put AN and LFI on the same level.” “It is unacceptable and unbearable,” he said.
For his part, Gabriel Attal (who belongs to Macron's party) has warned in a serious tone from the patio of the Hôtel de Matignon, the prime minister's residence, that “the far right is at the gate of power.” Attal, the last political leader to speak out publicly, has stated that the goal from now on is to “prevent RN from reaching an absolute majority in the second round, dominating the National Assembly and ruling the country with the disastrous project that is theirs. . Under these circumstances, no vote should go to RN. France deserves that we do not hesitate.”
This slogan of withdrawing Gabriel Attal's candidacies is also being applied in favor of LFI candidates, as members of his team have confirmed to various French media. However, they have clarified that in that case, they will analyze the profile of each non-submissive candidate before making a decision.