French President Emmanuel Macron has called for moderate politicians from the left and the right to regroup to defeat the far right in general elections.
Mr Macron, a pro-business centrist, said he wants “men and women of goodwill who were able to say ‘no’ to extremes to join together to be able to build a joint project” for the country.
The President is addressing French voters for the first time since he called for a snap national election following a crushing defeat of his party by the far right in the European parliamentary vote.
His address will explain his shocking decision to dissolve the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, triggering an early legislative election to take place three weeks after the far right National Rally party of Marine Le Pen triumphed at the European Union Parliament polls.
Mr Macron said he decided to call an early vote because he could not ignore the new political reality after his pro-European party was handed a chastening defeat and garnered less than half the support of the National Rally, with its rising star, Jordan Bardella, playing a prominent role.
The French leader, who has three years left of his second presidential term, hopes voters will band together to contain the far right in national elections in a way they did not in the European vote.
Mr Macron said at a press conference in Paris: “Things are simple today: we have unnatural alliances at both extremes, who quite agree on nothing except the jobs to be shared, and who will not be able to implement any programme.”
Sunday’s decision to dissolve parliament and send to the polls voters who just expressed their discontent with Mr Macron’s politics was a risky move that could result in the French far-right leading a government for the first time since the Second World War.
Potential alliances and France’s two-round voting system in national elections make the outcome of the vote highly uncertain.
Opposition parties on the left and right have been scrambling to form alliances and field candidates in the early legislative balloting that will take place on June 30 and July 7.
While sharp differences between parties remain on either side of the political spectrum, prominent figures calling for a united front appear to have one thing in common: They do not want to cooperate with Mr Macron.
Despite their divisions, left-wing parties agreed late on Monday to form an alliance that includes the Greens, the Socialists, the Communists and the far-left France Unbowed of Jean-Luc Melenchon.
National Rally leader Marine Le Pen is working to consolidate power on the right in efforts to translate the European triumph into a national win and come closer to claiming power.
The far-right party, with a history of racism and xenophobia, is expected to win the most French seats in the European Parliament, potentially as many as 30 of France’s 81.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel