The far right’s historically high score in the first round of the French legislative elections was reflected in the alarmed headlines of major international media outlets. An “earthquake”, a “staggering collapse” authored by Emmanuel Macron’s “arrogance and disdain for his fellow citizens” were among the reactions. But despite the imminence of the potential catastrophe now facing France – the far right has never been as close to power since the collaborationist Vichy regime – many in the political centre still struggle with the idea of uniting to keep National Rally (RN) out.
Macron irresponsibly conflated the far right and the left during the campaign, claiming that the “two extremes” (right and left) would lead to “civil war”. His rhetoric falsely equated the hateful far right with a coalition of parties on the left (the New Popular Front, NFP) that aspires to equality and social justice. He even adopted the talking points of the far right to attack the left’s “immigrationist” programme.
Macron eventually called for a “broad democratic and republican coalition” in the second round to unite to block “the imminent danger of an absolute majority for the RN”. But it took time for even heavyweights in his party to heed him. Many have refused to withdraw, selfishly risking the election of RN candidates to parliament.
For Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the national assembly, blocking the RN was not enough of a reason to vote for France Unbowed (LFI), the leading party on the left. Finance minister Bruno Le Maire agreed, opposing the RN unless it meant voting for LFI.
The messaging from Macron’s Ensemble coalition has been mixed: the party announced that candidates would tactically withdraw from constituency races “in favour of candidates capable of defeating the National Rally and with whom we share the values of the Republic”. The statement’s ambiguity, apparently aimed at LFI, left the definition of republican values open to interpretation.
Over the past two years, LFI has faced constant criticism. The party’s clear stance against Islamophobia, in a context where hostility towards Muslims in France is normalised, is often maliciously characterised as a shameless bid to attract Muslim votes. Recently, accusations of antisemitism have intensified due to LFI’s strong support for protecting Palestinian lives in Gaza; the nomination of Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian refugee, for the European elections; and some members’ refusal to label Hamas a terrorist group.
Like any form of racism, antisemitism is historically and structurally ingrained in France. It has found expression far too often (as have Islamophobia, sexism and transphobia) and LFI must continue to address and combat the antisemitism that persists within its ranks.
But the exclusion of an entire segment of the population is not part of LFI’s programme. According to a new report by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, “the majority of antisemitism is manifested among citizens on the right or far right”.
LFI, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a staunch critic of Macron, issued a clear directive ahead of the second round: “Nowhere will we allow the RN to prevail. Our stance is unequivocal: no votes, no seats for the RN.” LFI candidates withdrew from races where the RN posed a threat, including against Gérald Darmanin, the rightwing interior minister, who by contrast said he would abstain rather than give LFI his vote in a two-way contest with the RN.
Gabriel Attal, the prime minister, eventually came out with an explicit call on voters to block the RN even if that meant voting for LFI. While many candidates in Macron’s camp have withdrawn from races featuring LFI candidates, some have refused to do so, even at the risk of letting the RN win.
Yet every day brings new examples of the horror the country is plunging into and which an RN victory would exacerbate. Since the dissolution of parliament on 9 June, there has been an increase in racist and homophobic incidents. A Black woman insulted on camera by her white neighbours said the election had opened the floodgates to a climate of intolerance towards people of migrant heritage. A motorist who said he was an RN voter is alleged to have racially insulted and hit a school bus driver after a parking dispute in Val-de-Marne. Racist leaflets demanding that authorities “stop the Blacks” were distributed to residents of a small town in the Yvelines region of northern France. A bakery in Avignon that had hired a Black employee was targeted in an arson attack and daubed with racist graffiti. In Calais, there has been a spate of violent incidents against migrants. I could go on.
This is a foretaste of the kind of atmosphere the National Rally would make mainstream. According to the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights, the normalisation of racism is rising alongside support for the far right. That is hardly surprising when you consider that Mediapart and Libération have investigated RN candidates and have not had to dig far to find examples of the crudest forms of racism – including antiziganism, antisemitism and Islamophobia, sexism, homophobia, conspiracy theories and Nazi nostalgia – fuelling their social media feeds.
Marine Le Pen has managed to rebrand her party, but maintains strong ties with groups and builds allyship with European parties that are less cautious about hiding their extremism. She tries to distance herself from the legacy of the party co-founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, with former Nazi collaborationists. He has long been accused of torturing civilians while serving as a paratrooper during the Algerian revolution and was convicted on charges of minimising the Holocaust.
But Le Pen’s party not only pursues a hardline anti-immigrant policy. It aims to create different categories of French nationals, stripping dual citizens of rights.
This is what the RN represents at its core and why it must be prevented from prevailing next Sunday. Stopping the far right takes courage and moral clarity: politicians need to put their individual interests aside in the interest of everyone. We cannot waver on our principles, and risk pushing France into a situation from which it will not recover. For those who are privileged, failing to do everything in their power to block the RN may seem acceptable. But they need to think about those millions whose lives are at risk.
“We’ll argue later” has become the motto of the leftwing parties that have coalesced against the far right. This should be applicable to everyone across the political spectrum who is capable of defeating the far right. The priority must be to make sure this party never crosses the threshold of power.
Rokhaya Diallo is a Guardian Europe columnist
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