An opinion poll published in newspaper Les Echos on Friday said French far-right party National Rally (NR) further rose in its forecast and may reach as much as 37% of the popular vote, two days before the first voting round in parliamentary elections.
NR was up by 2% from the last publication of the poll compiled by OpinionWay a week ago, while Macron’s centrist bloc Together poll was seen reaching 20%, down by 2% from the last publication.
The New Popular Front leftwing alliance was seen reaching 28% of the vote, a level unchanged versus a week ago.
OpinionWay made no seat projections for France’s next National Assembly which, due to the two-round majority voting system, could differ significantly from the measured popular vote.
BFM TV, in a different poll compiled by Elabe, said RN could potentially cross the 289-seat bar for an absolute majority, placing the party and its allies in a 260-295 seats range.
The final outcome will be known after a second round of voting on July 7 and is hard to predict at the current stage as it will largely depend on to what extend RN’s rivals will team up and withdraw own runoff candidates to block the far right.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on Thursday accused RN leader Jordan Bardella of tolerating racist speech
In the ranks of his far-right camp amid a heated last television debate before the vote – an accusation Bardella rejected.
For President Macron, who stormed to power in 2017 by setting up a new party which he claimed did not belong to the left or the right, in the process he hollowed out the traditional left and right parties in the country.
It would seem the chickens are now coming home to roost for him with no space left for moderation. His pension reforms were very unpopular as also the green tax on fuel of 2018. It was no surprise when he lost his parliamentary majority two years ago and has struggled to get anything done there.
With Reuters inputs
