Participation in Sunday’s vote was high
Paris, France:
Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party came out ahead in the first round of French parliamentary elections on Sunday, exit polls showed, but the unpredictable final result will depend on days of negotiation before the second round of the next week.
RN was seen winning around 34% of the vote, exit polls from Ipsos, Ifop, OpinionWay and Elabe showed.
That was ahead of leftist and centrist rivals, including President Emmanuel Macron’s Together alliance, whose bloc was seen gaining 20.5% to 23%. The New Popular Front, a hastily assembled left-wing coalition, was expected to obtain around 29% of the vote, exit polls showed.
The results of the high-turnout vote, which were in line with polls ahead of the election, provided little clarity on whether the anti-immigrant, eurosceptic RN will be able to form a government alongside the pro-EU Macron.
There is now a week of political negotiations left before the July 7 second round. The final result will depend on how the parties decide to join forces in each of France’s 577 constituencies for the second round. In the past, France’s center-right and center-left parties have united to prevent the RN from taking power, but this dynamic, called the “republican front” in France, is less certain than ever.
The French president’s decision this month to call early elections has plunged his country into political uncertainty, sent shockwaves across Europe and triggered a sell-off of French assets on financial markets.
Turnout in Sunday’s vote was high, underlining how France’s raging political crisis has energized the electorate.
At 15:00 GMT, turnout was almost 60%, compared with 39.42% two years ago – the highest comparable turnout figures since the 1986 legislative vote, said Ipsos France research director Mathieu Gallard .
A long-time pariah, the RN is now closer to power than ever. Le Pen sought to detoxify a party known for racism and anti-Semitism, a tactic that worked against a backdrop of voter anger against Macron, the high cost of living and growing concerns about immigration.
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