French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Wednesday urged voters to form a united front to block the far right in the second round of the legislative elections, warning that Marine Le Pen’s far right National Rally was within reach of winning an absolute majority. Read our liveblog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
Summary
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President Emmanuel Macron has ruled out a coalition government with the hard-left France Unbowed party, French media reported Wednesday, saying the leader told a cabinet meeting that “it’s out of question that France Unbowed joins the government”.
- Some 218 candidates who had qualified to compete in the second round of the French legislative elections have stepped aside to favour the candidate most likely to win against a National Rally opponent. Of those, 130 were on the left and 82 came from the Macron-led centrist alliance Ensemble, according to a count by French newspaper Le Monde. Candidates had until 6pm on July 2 to withdraw.
- These withdrawals aim to block a landslide victory for Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally in Sunday's second round of legislative elections, as she said her party would lead the government only if it wins an absolute majority.
- Jordan Bardella and his National Rally secured the most first round votes in the early legislative elections on June 30, but not enough to claim an overall victory.
Yesterday's key developments:
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Far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen said that winning around 270 deputies would allow her party to open talks with individual MPs from other groups in the hope of persuading them into forming a government.
- Candidates on Tuesday faced a 6pm deadline to register for the run-off round of the high-stakes parliamentary election, as President Emmanuel Macron's centrist camp and the New Popular Front left-wing alliance scrambled to prevent the far right from taking power.
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)
