France could make a historic turn in its elections

PARIS (EFE).— France experienced a day of reflection yesterday ahead of legislative elections that promise to be historic due to the more than likely victory of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN), which might open the door to the first far-right government in eight decades.

Once the electoral campaign, which had to be organised in a hurry following the surprise call for elections launched by President Emmanuel Macron on 9 June, was over, voting began yesterday in the French territories of America and then in Polynesia before polling stations opened today in the rest of the country.

Voters are scheduled to begin at 10:00 GMT in the French archipelago of Saint Pierre et Miquelon in the North Atlantic, followed by those in Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin in the Caribbean, and a few hours later those in French Polynesia and the archipelago of New Caledonia in the Pacific.

In metropolitan France, voting is possible from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in rural areas, and until 8 p.m. in large cities.

The latest polls predict a clear victory for RN with its conservative allies Les Républicains (LR) who, led by their president, Éric Ciotti, blew up the party of the classic right.

This coalition would gather between 34 and 37% of the votes, clearly ahead of the new Popular Front, which brings together the four parties of the left – La France Insoumise (LFI), the Socialist Party (PS), the Ecologists and the French Communist Party (PCF) – which would obtain 28-30%.

In third place, the majority bloc of the outgoing Macron government would have to make do with around 20% of the votes, while the Republicans, who have not accepted the pact with RN, would be left with 6-7%.

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High participation

It is assumed that turnout will be very high, as predicted by polls last week, according to which between 64% and 67% of the 49.34 million registered voters will go to the polls. If these figures are confirmed, they would be almost 20 percentage points higher than in 2022.

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