Sunday, July 7, 2024, 12:49 PM
The turnout at midday in the French elections was 26.63%, which represents a slight increase compared to the first round last week (25.9%). However, this percentage is representative of the interest aroused by these elections, since such a high turnout at this time has not been recorded since 1981. Back then, it reached 28.3% in an election marked by the arrival of the left to power.
Most of the main candidates have already voted in their respective polling stations. This is a historic election that could mark a new cycle for France, with the far right in power and the possibility of a cohabitation government with the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, but it is also a signal to Brussels that something is happening in the territory of the European Union. The country is the second engine of the EU, where the advance of the far right is noticeable in almost a dozen community partners and was palpable in the last elections to the European Parliament.
All forecasts point to the emergence of the National Rally, the party led by Marine Le Pen and which presents Jordan Bardella as its main candidate. Some analysts have stated in their recent articles that, whatever happens, the far-right party has already surpassed its previous ceiling. If it achieves an absolute majority of 289 deputies, something really doubtful, it will be a historic victory and a profound and radical upheaval of French politics. But if it does not, everything points to it having a power it has never enjoyed before and, possibly, the key to the Executive.
However, this possibility continues to worry many centrist and left-wing leaders and figures. Raphaël Glucksmann, a MEP for the PS-Place Publique, asked this week whether “we want the Le Pen family to govern our country or not” and added: “Chaos is the victory of the National Rally, not the absence of a majority in the National Assembly.” The government has banned a demonstration in Paris called by anti-fascist organisations in front of the Le Pen party headquarters.
Polling stations will close between 6pm and 8pm, depending on where they are, and the first exit polls will be taken from there. France usually does not announce the final result until the following morning, but estimates and nightly counts can provide a picture of the new French political map as the night progresses.
It is not only the political parties that will be following this count with interest. Shopkeepers in cities such as Paris, Nice, Lyon and Marseille have admitted their fear of violent demonstrations by far-right or far-left groups after the closing of schools. The Ministry of the Interior has assigned a special contingent of 30,000 gendarmes to maintain order, in an unprecedented measure that will continue next week. Hundreds of shops have their shop windows covered with wooden panels today, Sunday, to avoid being the target of violence in the event of riots.
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