Mobilising republican forces: France's strategy to block far‑right

The French press calls for mobilisation of "republican forces" after the first round of parliamentary elections. This is intended to prevent the far-right National Rally (RN) from winning in the second round. "A week to avoid the worst" can be read in the articles published there.

The daily "Ouest-France" pointed out that historical mobilisation, i.e., high turnout in the first round of elections, primarily benefitted RNs. However, it is not certain if they will gain an absolute majority in parliament.

The daily emphasis is that the key districts are now where three candidates have advanced to the second round. As indicated, candidates have time to withdraw from the elections until 5 PM on Tuesday, 2 July.

The leftist daily Liberation emphasises that there is "a week to avoid the worst. "RN is on the threshold of power," it warns, adding that the only way to prevent this is by creating a "barrier" through "Republican forces."

"Liberation" calls for the systematic withdrawal of any candidate who advanced to the second round in third place (i.e., with the third highest result—ed.) to give the Republican candidate the best chance against the RN candidate. The daily emphasis is that deputies (of President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party), who are in third place, now hold the country's fate in their hands. Only an unequivocal withdrawal of candidates can save it.

The daily "L'Opinion" notes that "a week remains until the second round. However, how can one imagine that the French will renounce voting, which they have already decided not to correct during the time between the European Parliament elections and the first round of parliamentary elections? Elections have their dynamics, and the established one is RN's victory. We do not yet know the scale of this victory, but another chapter of the Republic begins," it was written.