The leader of the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, Marine Le Pen, speaks to reporters after delivering a speech after the first results of the parliamentary elections in Henin-Beaumont, northern France, on June 19 of 2022. DENIS CHARLET / AFP / Getty Images
The French far right achieved a historic success in the legislative elections on Sunday, increasing its number of legislators almost tenfold and consolidating the party’s rise from marginal status to the main opposition.
Since taking over the party in 2011, leader Marine Le Pen has tried to undo the National Front, now called the National Rally (RN), from the anti-Semitic image she acquired under her father’s nearly 40-year leadership. . the ex-parachutist Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Reaching 42 percent in the April presidential election, Le Pen had already taken advantage of general disillusionment with President Emmanuel Macron and identified nationwide anger over the rising cost of living and the decline of many communities. rural areas.
On Sunday, he took it a step further. Le Pen’s party is estimated to win between 85 and 90 seats, up from just two in 2012 and eight in 2017, making it the second largest party in parliament. Leading pollsters last week estimated only between 25 and 50 seats.
“We have achieved our three goals: to make Emmanuel Macron a minority president, without control of power, and to pursue the political recomposition essential for democratic renewal,” Le Pen told reporters after being re-elected in the north. of France and promised. be a respectful opposition.
“And to form a decisive opposition group against the deconstructors from above, the macronists, and from below, the nupes,” he added, referring to the left-wing alliance, which should become the Parliament’s largest opposition bloc, but whose main far-left party, La France Insoumise, will win fewer seats than the RN.
Sunday’s result killed a “Republican front” of voters of all kinds who had gathered behind a leading candidate to prevent the far right from advancing.
He also vindicated Le Pen’s strategy for reshaping the party’s image, while refusing to join forces with nationalist political expert Eric Zemmour after the presidential vote.
While in terms of seats, Le Pen’s party will be behind the left-wing grouping, allowing the RN to have much more weight in parliament.
He could, for example, vote against the government, send bills to France’s main constitutional courts, run parliamentary committees and have much more time to speak in the National Assembly.
“We are facing a democratic clash due to a very strong break-up of the National Rally,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told France 2 television.