French National Party in rebellious mood after disappointing election
Leaders of France’s far-right Rassemblement National tried to keep a strong face on Sunday over the expected results of parliamentary elections that showed the party failed to win the most seats. They said they were still on track to power despite a disappointing night.
The National Rally, which finished first in a first round of voting last week, would retain its most seats ever in the National Assembly, party president Jordan Bardella said. He criticized a political strategy by his centrist and left-wing rivals to withdraw candidates from hundreds of races to avoid splitting their support, saying they had “robbed” the country of a far-right government.
Still, with nearly all of the National Assembly’s 577 seats still to be elected, the National Rally had won 142 seats, the most of any party. It also won about 37 percent of the vote nationally, the most of any party.
“Tonight an old world has fallen,” Mr. Bardella said. “Nothing can stop a people who have hope again.”
Marine Le Pen, the party’s leader and the daughter of its founder, also tried to put the result in a broader context. “The tide is rising,” she said. “It hasn’t risen high enough this time, but it’s still rising. And as a result, our victory has actually been delayed.”
Rassemblement National leaders argued that many of France’s problems stemmed from immigration and had campaigned for a “national preference” plan, which would reserve certain jobs, social services, education and health care for citizens rather than immigrants.
The New Popular Front coalition, made up of four left-wing parties, quickly came together last month in an attempt to form a united front and prevent Rassemblement National from winning a majority after President Emmanuel Macron called early elections.
Results in the western region of La Sarthe illustrated the challenge for Rally National supporters to overcome a bitter defeat. The party had won a majority of votes in four of the five constituencies there last week, but fell short of the absolute majority needed to avoid a runoff. In the second round of voting on Sunday, no Rally National candidate was elected for any of the five seats.
“It’s a disgrace,” said Felix Aubry, a student and campaign manager for one of the National Rally candidates, François Fèvre. “It’s crazy to see this huge shift in votes.” He described the recent alliance of left-wing parties as “unnatural” and tried to put a positive spin on the progress of Rassemblement National.
“The National Rally has still had a big breakthrough, so it is still historic,” he said, adding: “When you see all the things that have been done to block it, it is huge.”
