French President Emmanuel Macron and his allies were yesterday battling to prevent the far right from taking an absolute majority and control of government in a historic first after his gamble on early elections backfired.
The far-right National Rally (RN) party of Marine Le Pen won a resounding victory in the first round of the polls on Sunday, with Macron’s centrists trailing in third behind a left-wing coalition.
However, the key suspense ahead of the second-round vote on Sunday was whether the RN would win an absolute majority in the new National Assembly, enabling it to form a government and make Le Pen’s protege, Jordan Bardella, 28, prime minister.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Most projections published by French polling organizations showed the RN falling short of an absolute majority, but the final outcome remains far from certain.
A hung parliament could lead to months of political paralysis and chaos — just as Paris is preparing to host the Olympic Games this summer, and while France on the international stage takes a prime role in backing Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who is likely to be forced to resign after the second round, warned that the far right was now at the “gates of power.”
The RN should not get a “single vote” in the second round, he said.
“We have seven days to spare France from catastrophe,” said Raphael Glucksmann, a key figure in the left-wing alliance.
The RN garnered 33 percent of the vote, compared with 28 percent for the left-wing New Popular Front alliance, and more than 20 percent for Macron’s centrist camp, preliminary results showed.
However, with less than 100 seats being decided outright in the first round, the final composition of the 577-seat National Assembly would only be clear after the second phase.
The second round would see a three-way or two-way run-off in the remainder of the seats to be decided, with Macron’s camp hoping that tactical voting would prevent the RN winning the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority.
The French stock market, which had been under considerable pressure last month amid the political uncertainty, also rallied in early trading on hopes that the RN would not win an absolute majority.
Macron in a written statement urged a “broad” coalition against the far right in the second round, amid controversy among supporters over whether they should tactically vote for the left where needed in the second round.
“The extreme right at the threshold of power,” daily Le Monde’s headline yesterday read.
Late on Sunday police said about 8,000 left-wing supporters thronged the Place de la Republique in Paris to denounce the prospect of the far right taking power.
If the RN takes an absolute majority and Bardella becomes prime minister this would create a tense period of “cohabitation” with Macron, who has vowed to serve out his term until 2027.
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
MISINFORMATION: The generated content tends to adopt China’s official stance, such as ‘Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese central government,’ the NSB said Five China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) language models exhibit cybersecurity risks and content biases, an inspection conducted by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The five AI tools are: DeepSeek, Doubao (豆包), Yiyan (文心一言), Tongyi (通義千問) and Yuanbao (騰訊元寶), the bureau said, advising people to remain vigilant to protect personal data privacy and corporate business secrets. The NSB said it, in accordance with the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), has reviewed international cybersecurity reports and intelligence, and coordinated with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to conduct an inspection of China-made AI language
SELF-DETERMINATION: German lawmakers add earth to an art installation in front of the Reichstag to show that the face of a nation lies with its people, Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan’s future should be decided by Taiwanese, German-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group chairman Till Steffen said yesterday, while giving former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) a tour of the German parliament building. Tsai arrived in Berlin on Sunday and the following day delivered a keynote speech at the Berlin Freedom Conference titled “Threats facing democracies: Taiwan’s experience defending freedom.” Tsai yesterday attended a tea gathering at the Bundestag, joined by former friendship group chairman of 15 years Klaus-Peter Willsch, German defense affairs specialist Roderich Kiesewetter and Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Brand. Noting that the
BOOST IN CONFIDENCE: The sale sends a clear message of support for Taiwan and dispels rumors that US President Donald Trump ‘sold out’ the nation, an expert said The US government on Thursday announced a possible sale to Taiwan of fighter jet parts, which was estimated to cost about US$330 million, in a move that an expert said “sends a clear message of support for Taiwan” amid fears that Washington might be wavering in its attitude toward Taipei. It was the first announcement of an arms sale to Taiwan since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House earlier this year. The proposed package includes non-standard components, spare and repair parts, consumables and accessories, as well repair and return support for the F-16, C-130 and Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft,
RSS