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1 September 2024

In France Macron helps fanatics and socialists fight authentic Right

Conrad Black

It was a widespread assumption that French president Emmanuel Macron called the unnecessary parliamentary elections in June and July on the assumption that the Rassemblement National (RN) of Marine Le Pen would win and he would then have the three years that remain in his presidential term to torment the government and improve the chances of his own party winning the next presidential election, which he is term-limited from contesting himself.

Whether this was the strategy or not, the result of the election was to put the left-wing coalition of parties, the New Popular Front (NFP), with the almost nihilistically extreme France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) Party principal among them, in as the largest parliamentary force. Thus came after an extraordinary agreement of joint withdrawals between the president’s party, Ensemble, and the NFP to sandbag the populist conservative RN. The French system provides for a second election between the two front-runners where there is no majority on the first ballot, but withdrawals of first and second candidates in tactical exchanges between parties for the second ballot are permitted.

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