Hundreds of candidates withdraw from second round of French legislative elections in last-ditch attempt to prevent far-right from gaining power

CNN
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As the French prepare to vote in the second round of legislative elections on Sunday, hundreds of candidates have withdrawn in an attempt to prevent the far-right party from gaining power.

More than 200 candidates from the centrist camp and President Emmanuel Macron’s left-wing alliance have decided to withdraw to avoid a split in the vote. They have put aside their differences with a single goal in mind: to keep the far right at a distance from the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority, currently within their reach.

Last Sunday, the French put the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) and its allies in first place while Macron’s centrist camp came third, behind the left-wing bloc.

After a first round in constituencies where no candidate won the primary, an unprecedented number of seats – more than 300 – were awarded in a third round in favor of the RN. On Tuesday, when the deadline to withdraw expired, there were fewer than 100 left, after centrist and left-wing candidates strategically abandoned some seats.

This tactic could prevent some RN candidates from winning, according to analyst Antoine Bristielle.

“The main probability was an absolute majority for the National Rally, but now, with all the withdrawals, I think it is unlikely,” Bristielle said.

In an attempt to deprive the RN of a majority, the NFP – a left-wing coalition that wants to lower the retirement age and tax the rich – has promised to withdraw all of its candidates who came in third place in the first round.

Leslie Mortreux, the NFP candidate and the only openly declared transgender candidate, withdrew to give right-wing Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin a better chance of beating his RN rival in a northern constituency.

Macron’s Ensemble allies have also called on their supporters to prevent the far right from taking power, but some have warned against lending their votes to the far-left France Insoumise, a party within the NFP.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire angered the left on Tuesday when he said no votes should go to the far right, adding that he himself would not vote for the far left either.

In one southern constituency, a government minister initially refused to support an NFP candidate, saying she did not want her voters to have to choose between two extremes.

The next day, she tweeted that she was stepping down following pressure from the president and prime minister.

In more than 80 three-way races, Macron’s centrist candidates have dropped out of the race in favor of candidates from the left-wing NFP party. But many have not encouraged their supporters to vote for a left-wing opponent.

“I have made the difficult decision to withdraw (…) leaving it to my voters to position themselves against the far right or the far left,” declared Samuel Deguara, candidate of the Macron camp, after withdrawing.

Meanwhile, far-right doyenne Marine Le Pen has condemned political horse-trading.

“Withdrawing and giving voting instructions shows the worst contempt for voters,” Le Pen said Tuesday.

Even before the withdrawal of candidates, projections suggested that at the end of the second round of voting next Sunday, the RN risked not obtaining an absolute majority and winning between 230 and 280 seats in the lower house, which has 577 seats.

In speeches before the first round, National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said he would refuse to govern a minority government, in which the RN would need the votes of its allies to pass laws.

If the RN does not obtain an absolute majority and Bardella remains true to his word, Macron may then have to look for a prime minister from the left, or elsewhere.

And if the unthinkable for Macron happens and the RN obtains an absolute majority, then it will become the first far-right party to enter the French government since World War II.