French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has warned that the far-right National Rally (RN) party is poised to win a majority in the ongoing legislative elections.
According to Attal, RN is the only party with a realistic chance of securing an absolute majority in the second round of voting scheduled for July 7.
“There’s one bloc in a position to win an absolute majority, and that’s the far right.
“On Sunday evening, what’s at stake in the second round is to do everything so that the extreme right does not have an absolute majority.
“It is not nice for some French to have to block… by using a vote that they did not want to.
“I say it’s our responsibility to do this,” Mr Attal told French radio.
An absolute majority of 289 seats is needed in the 577 seat National Assembly for a party to form a government on its own. But Le Pen has said that the RN will try if it gets any more than 270 seats by winning over other deputies
“At the end of this second round, either power will be in the hands of a far-right government, or power will be in parliament. I am fighting for this second scenario,” said Attal.
The first round of voting saw RN emerge as the frontrunner, garnering 33.1 per cent of the vote.
Led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, the party has been gaining momentum in recent months.
President Emmanuel Macron, who has been facing criticism from all sides, has vowed to continue in office until his term ends in 2027, despite the challenging political landscape.