As forecast in pre-election polls, the first round of the French legislative election confirmed the New Popular Front, an alliance of the main parties on the left, as the second-biggest political force in the country.
Hastily formed a day after French President Emmanuel Macron’s surprise decision to dissolve the National Assembly, the alliance consists of the France Unbowed party, the Socialists, the Greens and the Communists.
The left-wing alliance made a strong showing, with around 28 percent of the vote, but is unlikely to land enough seats in the runoffs to form a majority in parliament.
That didn’t stop a defiant Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the firebrand leader of France Unbowed, presenting himself as the main obstacle to the far right. He called on voters to give “an absolute majority to the New Popular Front.”
“The country will have to choose,” Mélenchon said from his party’s electoral headquarters. The options for Sunday’s second round are “either the New Popular Front or the National Rally,” he argued.
Mélenchon called for the leftwing alliance’s candidates to withdraw in districts in which they finished third and the far right came first. The strategic move, designed to help mainstream parties secure a majority of votes in the second round, was welcomed by his supporters.
