The leftist alliance New Popular Front follows in second place with 28.1 percent of the votes. Macron’s camp is badly affected and provisionally occupies third place with 20.3 percent. Therefore, the score is broadly in line with expectations.
This is an exceptionally exciting election for France. Never before has the radical right-wing Rassemblement National party been so close to power. On Sunday, turnout was unprecedented: electoral agencies estimated on Sunday night that between 65.5 and 69.7 percent of voters went to the polls, the highest figure since 1986. In the previous parliamentary elections , two years ago, that percentage increased to 47.7 percent. remains historically low.
The provisional classification after the first round is also exceptional. French parliamentary elections are held using a district system. Each of the 577 seats in the National Assembly has an electoral district that elects a candidate. This takes place in two rounds, unless a candidate obtains an absolute majority of votes in the first round, in which case a second ballot is not necessary.
Due to the electoral threshold (which varies depending on participation percentages), the second round is usually between two candidates in most cases. This time it is different: it is estimated that at least three candidates have gone to the second round in approximately three hundred constituencies.
Remove candidates
In an attempt to block the National Assembly (RN), both the left alliance and the coalition surrounding President Macron declared on Sunday afternoon that they will withdraw their candidate in districts where RN emerged as the largest and their own candidate was left in third place. This should ensure that as many votes as possible end up in the hands of the biggest contender per constituency to defeat RN.
About the Author
Eline Huisman is France correspondent for by Volkskrant. She lives in Paris.
While Macron has focused his efforts on “the extremes” of both the left and the right during his campaign in recent weeks, the party of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella was his only focus on Sunday night. The president called for a large “democratic and republican” mobilization against RN in the second round of the elections. That will continue next Sunday, July 7.
The provisional results are a blow to President Macron. Following the landslide victory of the Rassemblement National in the European elections in early June, he called for new parliamentary elections in the hope of “clarity” and a clear mandate for a new government. Although the picture on Sunday evening is provisional, one thing seems clear: that strong mandate does not lean towards his side.
A beaming Marine Le Pen asked her supporters on Sunday afternoon to give the Rassemblement National an absolute majority in next week’s decisive round, so the party can hand over the prime minister and lead a new government.