Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, commented on Sunday's first round of parliamentary elections in France. “The French have clearly demonstrated that they want to change something,” she said. President Emmanuel Macron said that “democratic and republican” unification is needed before the second round.
Marine Le Pen on election night she commented on the poll results of Sunday's first round elections. – The French have clearly confirmed that they want to change something, to change an authority that is contemptuous – she said.
She added that voters “swept away” President Emmanuel Macron's camp and put the National Rally in the lead.
– This is the result of the first round, we treat it as an expression of trust, which is an honor for us, but we also feel obliged. The second round will be the most important, Le Pen noted.
She appealed to voters who voted for her party to repeat their choice in the second round. She encouraged those who made a different choice to join the “coalition of security, freedom and unity” with the National Union. She then added: “we need an absolute majority.”
Le Pen also announced that she had won the mandate in the first round, Le Monde reported. She ran in the Pas-de-Calais district.
Bardella announces respect, but also “uncompromising attitude”
The National Rally candidate for prime minister, 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, said that the French had given the final verdict and voted for the change. The second round of the parliamentary elections will be one of the most important votes in the history of the Fifth Republic, Bardella added.
Jordan BardellaPAP/EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON
He announced that if the National Union wins absolute majorityhe will become a prime minister who respects President Emmanuel Macron as part of the coabitation, but will also be “uncompromising in terms of implementing the policy” announced by his party.
Melenchon: The French were not fooled
The leader of the radical left also spoke France Untamed forming the Popular Front by Jean-Luc Melenchon. “The French weren't fooled,” he said. – Tonight, one thing is certain. Mr. (current head of government, Gabriel – ed.) Attal will no longer be prime minister – he added. – The country must choose: whether it will deepen the greatest divisions and social inequalities, those related to skin color or religion, or whether it will create one society. This will be the choice in the second round. Popular Front or National Union, he said.
Melenchon announced that Popular Front candidates would withdraw from further competition in districts where they came third in order to weaken the final result of the far-right National Rally. “Our instructions are simple and clear: not one more vote, not one more mandate for the National Rally,” he stressed.
He noted that President Macron's camp suffered a “serious and undeniable defeat” in the early elections. He also appealed for an absolute majority for the left-wing alliance. – With a new Popular Front a new France can be created – he said.
Macron: democratic and republican unity needed
President of France Emmanuel Macronwhose group took the position according to survey third place, said in a statement sent to the media that a “democratic and republican” unity was needed in the second round of elections, against the far-right National Rally.
He emphasized that the high turnout reflected society's desire to “clarify the political situation.” “The time has come for broad unity, clearly democratic and republican, before the second round,” Macron said.
Main image source: PAP/EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON