PARIS (Reuters) – Campaigning for early parliamentary elections in France started on Monday. Opinion polls show the far-right National Rally will win, with President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance coming in third, behind a left-wing ticket.
Political uncertainty has led to heavy selling of French bonds and shares after Macron unexpectedly called the election following a defeat by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) in the European Parliament elections against his ruling centrist party.
Macron’s gamble, overwhelming other parties with just a few weeks to prepare for the vote, could backfire, an Ifop poll for the Journal du Dimanche showed.
The poll shows that the Eurosceptic, anti-immigration RN will get 35% of the vote in the first round on June 30, with 26% going to a fragile alliance of left-wing parties and just 19% going to Macron. The second round will take place on July 7.
“We are entering uncharted territory and in my opinion we are heading towards an ungovernable Assembly,” said 60-year-old voter Maxime Chetrit.
Marie Balta, a retiree from Nîmes, in southern France, shared these concerns but said the elections could give parliament more power over what the president and government do.
“It will be very difficult to have a tripartite Assembly with two strong blocs and a much smaller center, but it may be an opportunity to return to more democracy,” she said.
STARTING GUN
The official campaign started on Monday after a week in which parties rushed to field candidates and forge alliances.
Macron’s allies repeated warnings that a victory for RN, or for the left, could trigger a financial crisis. A victory for either would be catastrophic for France, its economy and employment, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told RTL Radio.
Even the captain of the French football team, Kylian Mbappé, has spoken out, calling on young people to ‘make a difference’ at a time when ‘extremes’ are knocking on the door of power.
Some far-right politicians said the French player was out of touch with reality.
Macron gathered key ministers and aides on Sunday evening to discuss the elections, a source who took part in the meeting said, adding that they decided not to field candidates in about 60 constituencies – out of 577 – where they believed another regular candidate was the most important candidate. in a better position to win.
But some in Macron’s camp publicly expressed doubts about the early elections.
“This (dissolution of parliament) is the president’s decision, it is his prerogative,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told France Inter Radio on Sunday.
“What I observe is that in our country, among the French people, everywhere, it has caused concern, misunderstanding and sometimes anger. That is what I see among our voters.”
The RN, which has already said it will cut VAT on energy and lower the retirement age, will develop its economic program in the coming days.
Meanwhile, European Central Bank policymakers have no plan to discuss emergency purchases of French bonds and believe it is up to French politicians to reassure investors spooked by the prospect of a far-right government, five sources told Reuters .
(Reporting by Yiming Woo, Ingrid Melander, Elizabeth Pineau, Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Christina Fincher)
