France is holding the first round of early parliamentary elections on Sunday, which could bring the country’s first far-right government since Nazi occupation during World War II.
The second round will be on July 7th. The outcome of the vote is highly uncertain. Participation is unusually high.
Three major political blocs are competing: far-right National Rally, President Emmanuel Macron centrist alliance and the New Popular Front coalition this includes centre-left, green and far-left forces. The French system is complex and is not proportional to national support for a party.
Following the far-right’s landslide victory in European Parliament elections earlier this month, Macron called an early vote in France because he otherwise feared the results would lead to paralysis in the legislature.
If the National Rally wins a parliamentary majority, Macron is expected to name 28-year-old National Rally president Jordan Bardella as prime minister in a strange power-sharing system known as “cohabitation.” Bardella said he would oppose the deployment of French troops to Ukraine – a possibility that Macron has not ruled out – and refuse French deliveries of long-range missiles and other weaponry capable of hitting targets inside Russia.
At the moment:
— France faces an election like no other. See how it works and what comes next
– Macron weakened at home and abroad as early elections in France give a boost to the far right
— In the high-stakes legislative elections in France, a Jewish candidate faces and fights against hate and division
— Leader of the French extreme right Bardella seeks to reassure votersEU economic and foreign policy partners
— French Prime Minister seeks to step out of Macron’s shadow in the next early elections
Here are the latest:
The first round of high-stakes legislative elections in France is seeing an unusually high turnout of 59%, with three hours left until the polls close. This is 20 percentage points more than the turnout at the same time in the last first round vote in 2022.
President Emmanuel Macron called the surprise vote three weeks ago after European elections showed a collapse in support for his centrist party and a sharp rise in the far-right National Rally. Two rounds of voting will determine who will be prime minister and which party will control the lower house of the French parliament. This could potentially place France in uncharted political territory if Macron has to share power with a party hostile to most of his policies.
Some researchers suggest that the high turnout could moderate the result of the far-right National Rally, possibly indicating that voters made an extra effort to demonstrate out of fear that it could win.
French President Emmanuel Macron and other candidates from across the political spectrum voted in the country’s parliamentary elections after Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally party dominated pre-election opinion polls.
Midday turnout in the first round of the two-round elections was 25.9%, according to the French Interior Ministry. This is higher than the 18.43% recorded at noon two years ago in the 2022 legislative elections.
The second round of voting will be on July 7th. Voters have on their minds issues ranging from immigration to inflation and the rising cost of living as the country becomes more divided between far-right and far-left blocs. A deeply unpopular and weakened Macron remains at the political center.
PARIS — New Caledonia’s top French official says turnout in legislative elections in the troubled French Pacific territory was higher on Sunday than in the parliamentary vote two years ago.
High Commissioner Louis Le Franc said in a statement that more than 32.39% of registered voters had voted by noon local time, compared to 13% at the same time in 2022.
Polls have now closed at 5pm local time due to 8pm at 6am mandatory curfew that the archipelago authorities extended until July 8, the day after the second and decisive legislative vote.
Violence exploded on May 13th, leaving nine people dead after two weeks of unrest, due to attempts by Macron’s government to amend the French Constitution and alter voting lists in New Caledonia, which indigenous Kanaks feared would further marginalize them. They have long sought freedom from France, which first seized the Pacific territory in 1853.
While the worst of the violence has subsided in recent weeks, tensions have risen in the archipelago, with a population of 270,000, in the run-up to high-stakes legislative elections after seven people were detained. pro-independence Kanak leaders were flown to mainland France for pre-trial detention on charges related to instigating riots that included protests, clashes, looting and arson.
Members of a pro-independence movement known as the Field Action Coordination Unit demanded the “release and immediate return” of Christian Tein, the Kanak indigenous leader and six others and accused Macron’s government of “colonial tactics”.
Voters across France have begun voting in the first round of an early legislative election that could see far-right forces take over the government – or no majority at all.
Polling stations opened in mainland France at 8am on Sunday (0600 GMT). The first election projections are expected at 8pm (6pm GMT), when the final polling stations close, and the first official results later on Sunday night.
There are 49.5 million registered voters who will choose 577 members of the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament.
The result of the two-round elections could impact European financial markets, Western support for Ukraine and how France nuclear arsenal and global military strength are managed.
