The far-right Rally National (RN) party and its allies won 33% of the national popular vote in the first round of parliamentary elections, the interior ministry said.
The left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance came in second with 28% while President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition Together reached 20%, the ministry said.
The result marks the first time the RN has won more than 20% of the vote in a parliamentary election and puts the party in a position to form the country’s first ever far-right government.
However, the final results and the exact composition of the 577-seat parliament are not certain and the RN’s chances of winning power will depend on the political deal made by its rivals over the coming days, ahead of Sunday’s second round.
In the past, traditional right-wing and left-wing parties have reached agreements to remove candidates from the run-off to avoid splitting votes against the RN. But the tactical voting strategy known as the “Republican front” to block the RN is less certain than ever.
NFP leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said the left-wing alliance would withdraw all its candidates who came third in the first round, saying: “Our directive is simple and clear: no more votes for the Rally National”.
In a written statement, Macron urged voters to rally behind candidates who are “clearly republican and democratic.”
But based on his latest statements, while this would include candidates representing the more moderate leftist parties of the NFP, it would exclude candidates from Mélenchon’s France Unbowed.
