French left-wing and centrist political parties withdrew many of their candidates for the general election on the 2nd (local time), the deadline for candidate registration.
All candidates who ranked third in the initial round of general elections held last month on June 30 were required to withdraw.
This collective action aims to prevent a far-right candidate from winning in the second round of voting due to split votes.
As reported by the French daily Le Monde, left and centrist parties withdrew over 200 third-place candidates to prevent the far-right National Rally (RN) from gaining a majority of seats. This constitutes more than two-thirds of all third-place candidates.
The Financial Times (FT) quoted Mathieu Gallard, an analyst at Ipsos who projected that although it’s highly unlikely for any party to gain a majority in this French general election, there is a “very, very high” likelihood that the National Rally (RN) could secure the most seats.
In response, left and centrist parties have decided to build a Republican Front against the National Rally.
All third-place candidates from the leftist alliance New People’s Front (NFP) have withdrawn, and almost all third-place candidates from President Emmanuel Macron’s broad-based Ensemble have also stepped down.
In the first round of voting on June 30, RN secured 33.1%, followed by NFP with 28%, and Ensemble with 20%, ranking them first to third, respectively.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right RN, declared on July 2 that if the National Rally narrowly fails to achieve a majority, they will seek coalition options to establish a government.
In an interview with French Inter Radio, Le Pen said, “Our goal is to govern,” underscoring the clarity of their intentions.
She stressed, “Should we narrowly miss a majority, we will ask others, ‘Are you ready to join us and form a new majority with new policies?'”
In the first round of voting, RN candidates took first place in 296 constituencies, confirming 39 seats.
To achieve a majority, they must secure at least 289 seats out of the total 577.
While RN could potentially emerge as the majority party by maintaining their first-place position from the first round, it is highly unlikely for them to secure a majority as the left and centrist alliance is expected to block this.
The collective voting percentage of Macron’s Ensemble and NFP surpasses RN’s in in numerous districts.
However, there is uncertainty about whether these two parties will fully absorb this voting rate when only one candidate from the two parties runs after the third-place candidates withdraw.
Voters whose preferred candidate has withdrawn may either abstain from voting, or they might even choose the RN candidate.
