In France, far-right leader Marine Le Pen is confident her party will win an absolute majority in parliament, form a government and impose limits on what President Emmanuel Macron can do to support Ukraine, she said days before voting starts.
Macron will remain president of France after a snap legislative election on June 30 and July 7, which he called after Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) trounced his centrist Together alliance in European elections, but may have to share power with his foes.
“On the choice of prime minister, the president has understood he doesn’t have much of a choice, as Jordan Bardella will have a mandate from the French people,” Le Pen told regional newspaper Le Telegramme de Brest, referring to her party’s pick for the job of head of government.
Opinion polls consistently suggest the anti-immigrant, eurosceptic RN has a comfortable lead in terms of share of the popular vote, with a left-wing coalition in second place and Macron’s centrists in third.
However, the big unknown is whether the RN can win an absolute majority of 289 seats or more in the National Assembly. The latest poll, published on Wednesday by Ifop, projected it and its allies would get 220 to 260 seats.
“How arrogant of Marine Le Pen to consider that the RN has already won the election,” Deputy Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told the TV channel TF1 on Thursday.
Macron’s term runs until 2027 and he cannot be forced out. France has had three periods of “cohabitation”, when the president and government were from opposite political camps, in its post-war history.
Le Pen predicted Macron would find this uncomfortable, even hinting that she thought he may throw in the towel early.
“I don’t know what his reaction will be. Given his arrogance, will he put up with it for long?” she said in the interview published on Le Telegramme’s website late on Wednesday.
Macron has repeatedly said he would remain president until 2027, whatever the outcome of the election.
