Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has insisted her National Rally (RN) party will be able to secure an absolute majority at the end of the second round of French elections, despite party leaders being attacked in the street by angry mobs.
RN, led by Le Pen and her political protégé Jordan Bardella, won a massive 34% of the vote in the first round on June 30, leaving the centrist forces of President Emmanuel Macron behind.
But three days before the second round of the most important legislative elections in recent French history, a poll projected that the RN would not achieve an absolute majority despite its initial success.
Despite negative projections, Le Pen was confident that RN would win the second round.
“I think there is still the ability to achieve an absolute majority with the electorate going out to the polls in a final effort to get what they want,” Le Pen told BFMTV in an interview.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen (pictured) has insisted her National Rally (RN) party will be able to win an outright majority.
RN left behind the centrist forces of President Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the French elections
Tens of thousands of people gather at the Place de la Republique in Paris to protest against the far-right National Rally party
“I say that we must go out and vote because it is a very important moment to achieve a change in policy in all the areas that are causing you to suffer at the moment,” he added.
While support for RN has been high, it remains an incredibly divisive party that has generated a deeply negative reaction.
Four people, including three minors, were arrested after government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot and her team were attacked while putting up campaign posters in Meudon, outside Paris, prosecutors said.
Thevenot, who is originally from Mauritia, told local media that the attack occurred after his team told about 10 youths to stop defacing his posters.
“We told them, without being aggressive, that (defacing signs) was not allowed,” he said.
Although she was not injured, a colleague and a supporter were injured and taken to hospital after the attack by around 20 people.
Four people, including three minors, were arrested after government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot (pictured) and her team were attacked while putting up campaign posters in Meudon, outside Paris.
While support for RN has been high, it remains an incredibly divisive party that has generated a deeply negative reaction.
Political violence is expected to be a massive problem on Sunday night.
“Violence and intimidation have no place in our society,” Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X in response to the attack.
Political violence is expected to be a major problem on Sunday night. French police will deploy 30,000 officers to quell any street unrest.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said 5,000 police officers would be stationed in and around Paris alone to “ensure that the radical right and the radical left do not take advantage of the situation to cause chaos.”
On the night of the first round of the historic election, violence broke out across France, but especially in Paris, in response to the huge victory of the far right.
Barricades designed to keep crowds under control were torn down as countless protesters flooded the Place de la République and climbed the iconic statue depicting the personification of France, Marianne.
The containers were torn off, their contents scattered across the tarmac and quickly set alight as protesters surrounded them waving banners, flares and projectiles.
Supporters of French far-right leader Marine Le Pen react after the publication of projections based on the actual vote count in selected constituencies during the first round on Sunday.
Many remain bitter about a sudden decision that risks plunging France into chaos weeks before hosting the Olympic Games.
A man holds a sign reading “The French flag does not belong to fascists” as tens of thousands of people gather in Paris to protest against the far right.
Young women trying to enjoy a night out in the city were forced to stay behind armoured police who pushed back activists with batons and tear gas while firefighters were called in to put out fires set by protesters.
Macron’s decision to call a snap election three years earlier than planned after his party’s defeat in European polls has been seen as the biggest gamble of his political career.
Many are still bitter about a sudden decision that risks plunging France into chaos weeks before it hosts the Olympics and at a time when Macron’s government is playing a key role in backing Ukraine against Russian invasion.
The unpopular president has disappeared from public view, making his last public comments in Brussels last week, and centrist candidates have been putting Attal’s image, not Macron’s, on their leaflets.
Even if the RN fails to secure an absolute majority, a broad coalition formed by Macron would risk being overthrown in a vote of no confidence if it received support from both the LFI and the RN.
The containers were overturned and set alight, sending acrid smoke into the air.
Young women trying to enjoy a night out in the city were forced to stay behind armed police.
Riot police officers repel protesters who had set fire to piles of rubbish
Protesters take part in an anti-RN demonstration following the announcement of the results of the first round of the French parliamentary elections at the Place de la Republique in Paris on June 30, 2024.
Fabien Roussel, leader of the French Communist Party, which is part of the NFP, appeared to open the door to participating in a grand coalition.
“I don’t want to cause chaos in my country, France must be governable,” he told France 2 television.
But Le Pen said Macron’s “biggest dream” was to have a “single party” that would bring together all forces, from the leftist France Unbowed Party (LFI) to the right-wing Republicans (LR), but excluding the RN.
However, Macron made clear at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that there was “no question” that the LFI would be part of any coalition, according to one participant.
Le Pen, who is expected to make a fourth attempt to win the Elysee in 2027, admitted there were problems with a handful of RN candidates, one of whom had to withdraw after a photo emerged of her wearing a Nazi Luftwaffe hat.
She said: “There are statements that have been inadmissible and will carry sanctions and there are also statements that are simply clumsy.”
