Posted on 06/30/2024 5:11:29 AM PDT by hardspunned
The first round of elections to the National Assembly (lower house of the French Parliament) is taking place, which may bring a historic victory to the hard-right National Rally party.
(Excerpt) Read more at x.com ...
Who is taking part and what to expect?
🔸 Three major political blocs are competing, including Marine Le Pen’s hard right National Rally (NR), President Emmanuel Macron’s center-right alliance Ensemble, and the left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NFP).
🔸 NR calls for a "more balanced" and "independent" French foreign policy, supporting France leaving NATO's integrated command and reform of the EU, with zero tolerance for breaches of law and order.
🔸 The NFP was formed with an intent to "build an alternative to Emmanuel Macron and fight the racist project of the extreme right" in the upcoming elections.
🔸 Ensemble includes Macron’s Renaissance party, in particular, upholding stances in favor of the EU.
🔸 NR leads the polls ahead of the elections with 36% of the vote, followed by the NFP with 28.5%, which is trailed by Ensemble with 21%, according to the latest surveys. The polls suggest the upcoming elections will almost certainly confirm this trend.
🔸 To win an absolute majority in the National Assembly, a party or bloc needs to obtain at least 289 seats out of the 577.
🔸 In the first round, the voter turnout needs to be at least 25%, and a candidate ought to win an absolute majority of votes cast. In a multiparty system like France’s, these two conditions mean a second round of voting will most likely occur in many constituencies on July 7.
🔸 Le Pen recently made it clear that she will not seek Macron’s resignation if her party triumphs in the snap elections. “I’m respectful of institutions. I do not call for institutional chaos. There will simply be cohabitation,” she pointed out. Macron, for his part, confirmed he would not step down if his party suffers in the elections, adding that he “does not intend to campaign more than [he did] in 2017 and 2022.”
The GMT time seems off.
France should be GMT +2 hours, not -1 hour.
“France’s parliamentary elections mark an early record turnout: at 9 am local time (10 am GMT)”
To the European media, “Early Voting” is defined as voting in the morning on Election Day, whereas “Early Voting” in the US is now defined as voting days, weeks, or months in advance.
We could learn something here.
RuhRoh! Not the “hard right”! Sacre bleu!
Turnout at 5:00 PM local time 65.3% per France 24 TV Station
Early, eager voters = angry voters.
Electronic tabulators.
Do you hear the people sing?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.