Rival French parties seek to build anti-far right front to block Le Pen
Newly-elected French Members of Parliament with the "Nouveau Front Populaire" left wing coalition and members of the left-wing party La France Isoumise including Mathilde Panot , Aurelien Saintoul, Aymeric Caron, Sarah Legrain, Daniele Obono, Sebastien Delogu and Clemence Guette pose as they arrive for a welcoming day at the National Assembly in Paris, on 1 July 2024.
Opponents of France's far right sought to build a united front to block the path to government of Marine Le Pen's National Rally on Monday, after the party made historic gains to win the first round of a parliamentary election. But others feared the rise of the RN and its nationalist platform would cause growing tensions in French society.
It was not initially clear whether such a pact would always apply if the left-wing candidate was from the far-left France Unbowed party of Jean-Luc Melenchon, a divisive figure with radical tax-and-spend proposals and class war rhetoric. The RN gains were welcomed by nationalists and far-right groups across Europe, including Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Spain's Vox party. Pedro Sanchez, Spain's Socialist premier, said left-leaning parties could still block an outright RN victory.
In constituencies with no outright winner, the top two candidates, plus any candidate with more than 12.5% of registered voters in that constituency, have until Tuesday evening to confirm whether they will go into the second.
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