In the parliamentary elections in France, the right-wing nationalists led by Marine Le Pen could come to power. Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated against this in many cities across the country.
Tens of thousands of people have demonstrated against the extreme right in France. In Paris and other major cities and towns, people followed calls from trade unions and other organizations on Saturday to protest against Marine Le Pen’s right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National (RN) party, which could potentially gain government responsibility in the parliamentary elections scheduled at short notice.
According to the Interior Ministry, 250,000 people took part in the demonstrations nationwide, 75,000 in Paris alone. The CGT union spoke of 640,000 demonstrators across France, including 250,000 in the capital. On the sidelines of several protest marches, there were isolated cases of property damage and confrontations between demonstrators and the police, media reported. Demonstrations are also planned for Sunday.
“Against the brown plague, put paving stones at the ballot box”
“Either it’s the extreme right or it’s us,” said the leader of France’s Left Party, Mathilde Panot, at the head of the Paris demonstration in view of the parliamentary elections. Like Panot, numerous other leading politicians from left-wing parties, who had presented a left-wing alliance for the election the day before, had joined the demonstration in the capital. “You don’t have to vote RN to love France” and “Never again” were written on banners carried by demonstrators in Marseille. “Against the brown plague, put paving stones at the ballot box” read a banner in Paris.
In response to the defeat of his liberal forces in the European elections and the landslide victory of the right-wing nationalists, President Emmanuel Macron unexpectedly dissolved the National Assembly last Sunday and announced new elections for June 30 and July 7. The strong performance of the RN in the European elections cannot automatically be transferred to the parliamentary elections, as France has a majority voting system. The representative of a constituency who receives the most votes in the second round of the runoff election is elected to parliament.
Source: Stern
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