The French far right National Rally (RN) is still capable of winning an absolute majority in parliament, three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said on Thursday, despite denouncing electoral pacts between the centre and the left aimed at thwarting its rise to power.
With three days left until the second round of the most critical legislative elections in France's recent history, a poll projected that the RN would fall short of an absolute majority despite its success in the June 30 first round.
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The outcome of the election will see if postwar France elects its first far-right government or enters into an era of potentially paralysing coalition politics.
The centrist forces of President Emmanuel Macron and a broad-left wing coalition have withdrawn over 200 candidates from the runoff on Sunday in a joint effort to ensure the far right is defeated.
"I think there is still the capacity to have an absolute majority with the electorate turning out in a final effort to get what they want," Le Pen told BFMTV in an interview.
"I say turn out to vote as it's a really important moment to get a change in politics in all the areas that are making you suffer right now," she said.
If the RN wins an absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-member National Assembly, it will be able to form a government with Le Pen's 28-year-old protege Jordan Bardella as prime minister.
But she acknowledged that the "operation" by Macron's centrists and the New Popular Front (NFP) coalition to withdraw candidates "had the aim of preventing the RN from having an absolute majority."
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The moves have sparked speculation a possible right-centre-left coalition could emerge after the election to prevent the RN taking power.
- 'No place in our society' -
Le Pen alleged that the "biggest dream" of Macron was to have a "single party" taking in all forces from the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) to right wing Republicans (LR) but excluding the RN.
Macron however made clear at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that there was "no question" of the LFI being part of any coalition, according to a participant.
Le Pen, who is expected to make a fourth attempt to win the Elysee in 2027, admitted there had been problems with a handful of RN candidates, one of whom had to withdraw after a picture of her emerged wearing a Nazi Luftwaffe hat.
She said: "There are statements that have been inadmissible and will involve sanctions and there are also statements that are just clumsy."
Four people, including three minors, were detained after government spokeswoman Prisca Thevenot and her team were attacked while they were sticking up campaign posters in Meudon outside Paris, prosecutors said.
Thevenot, who is of Mauritian origin, was not harmed but a colleague and a supporter were wounded and taken to hospital after the attack by some 20 people.
"Violence and intimidation have no place in our society," Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X.
A poll by Harris Interactive projected the RN and its allies would win 190 to 220 seats in the National Assembly, the NFP 159 to 183 seats and Macron's Ensemble (Together) alliance 110 to 135.
- 'France must be governable' -
Macron's decision to call snap elections three years ahead of schedule following his party's drubbing in European polls has been seen as the biggest gamble of his political career.
Many still remain bitter over a sudden decision which risks plunging France into chaos weeks before it hosts the Olympics and at a time when Macron's government is playing a key role in backing Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
The unpopular president has disappeared from public view, with his last public comments made in Brussels last week, and centrist candidates have been putting the picture of Attal, not of Macron, on their leaflets.
Even if the RN fails to win an absolute majority, a broad coalition formed by Macron would itself risk being toppled in a no-confidence motion if backed by both the LFI and RN.
Fabien Roussel, the leader of France's Communist Party, which is part of the NFP, appeared to open the door to taking part in a grand coalition.
"What I want is not to cause chaos in my country, France must be governable," he told France 2 TV.
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