AFP-JIJI –
Emmanuel Macron’s centrist camp and a left-wing alliance fought Monday to prevent the far right from winning an outright majority and control of the French government, after the president’s gamble on early parliamentary elections backfired.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National won a resounding victory in the first round of voting on Sunday, while Macron’s centrists finished in third place behind the left-wing Front Popular.
Le Pen has called on voters to give Rassemblement National an absolute majority in a second round of voting on July 7, in which the party’s 28-year-old leader, Jordan Bardella, would become prime minister.
