Moroccans march in pro-Palestinian rally

AFP
Sun, 7 July 2024 

The protesters took to the streets after reports last month of an Israeli ship docking in Tangier (FADEL SENNA)


Thousands of Moroccans demonstrated Sunday in the northern city of Tangier in support of the Palestinian people and against Morocco's ties with Israel, an AFP journalist saw.

"Gaza is not alone," chanted the protesters during the event which saw the grouping of leftist parties and Islamist movements.

The protesters took to the streets of the coastal city after reports last month of an Israeli ship's docking in Tangier port.


Coming from the United States, the ship made a pit stop in Tangier on June 19, according to Israeli media.

Moroccan authorities have yet to confirm the reports.

On June 24, the kingdom announced the sending of 40 tonnes of medical aid to the population of Gaza, ravaged by war since Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.

The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Militants had also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza, including 42 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel has since carried out a military offensive that has killed at least 38,153 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data from the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Sunday's protests also called on the kingdom to end its ties with Israel.

Morocco established diplomatic ties with Israel in late 2020 under the US-brokered Abraham Accords which saw similar moves by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Under the deal, the United States recognised Morocco's claim to sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

Several demonstrations have taken place in the North African country since the Gaza war broke out in October.

Rabat has officially denounced what it said were "flagrant violations of the provisions of international law" by Israel in its war against Hamas.

But it has not given any indication that normalisation with Israel would be undone.

fs-kao/bou/imm

VIVE LE GAUCHE

'A lot of hope': French left rejoices at unexpected election win

Elodie Le Maou, Emilie Megnien and Adrien de Calan
Sun, 7 July 2024 at 4:49 pm GMT

French leftists rejoiced at an unexpected win (Dimitar DILKOFF)


As the first projections showed the left in the lead of France's parliamentary polls, against all expectations, a large crowd of left-wing activists erupted in joy in Paris.

"I'm really happy, there's this crazy energy and I'm getting the chills," said Marie Delille, a philosophy student, in the capital's Stalingrad Square.

"It feels good right now, but we're still waiting for the final results," she added at the gathering of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party.


Many French voters had feared the anti-immigration, Eurosceptic National Rally (RN) party would seize the largest portion of parliament's seats.

But early projections put a broad left-wing alliance including LFI ahead in the race with 177 to 198 seats, in front of both President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance with 152 to 169 seats and the RN with 135 to 145.

Nearby, fellow LFI activist Dalil Diab was also visibly moved.

"We're relieved, there's a lot of hope. There's a lot of hope for the future of France, for the left," said the young man who works in transport logistics.

Hugo Chevalley, a history student, was more tempered in his enthusiasm.

"It's a victory, but it's a relative victory," he said, referring to the large chunk of seats the RN is likely to have gained.

"So we have to continue to fight. It's not over... But it's a relief, that's for sure. We weren't expecting it."

Hundreds of supporters of the left-wing New Popular Front also gathered to celebrate in the capital's Republique Square.

"We've won, we've won," members of the crowd chanted under a blue, white and red France flag marked with the words "France is weaved from migrations".

"No to the RN, no to Macron," read one placard held up by a participant.

- 'I won't give up' -

Macron took the gamble to call the elections after the RN trounced his centrist alliance in June 9 European elections.

Three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen had hoped her RN party would go on to win an absolute majority in the national polls and even form a government.

But that dream was dashed after the left and centre rallied together to ensure there was only one anti-RN candidate in most districts.

In another part of Paris, the mood was less festive for the RN, where leader Jordan Bardella accused the president's party and left of "electoral arrangements".

Olivier Mondet, a 64-year-old nurse, was annoyed that so many people had voted against the far right.

"They tell the French people any old thing and they swallow it all up. They're manipulating them," he said.

Cecilia Djennad, 32, said she was disappointed.

"People have been demonising the RN for years. The extreme left plays on people's fear," she said.

But "I won't give up," she added, looking forward to local elections planned for 2026.

Among a group of young party followers dressed in suits and ties for the occasion, history student Noah Ludon also remained optimistic.

"The RN is a high-speed train. Our voters are increasing," he said.

"Victory will come next time."

burs-adc/ah/sjw/imm

French leftist leader Melenchon says left 'ready to govern'

AFP
Sun, 7 July 2024 

Melenchon was jubilant over the result (Sameer Al-Doumy)

The French left is "ready to govern", divisive hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said Sunday, after predictions showed a broad left-wing alliance could be the largest group in parliament ahead of the far right.

"Our people have clearly rejected the worst-case scenario," said the three-time presidential candidate of the France Unbowed (LFI) party.

Leftist parties including LFI, the Socialist Party, the Greens and the Communist Party joined forces last month to form the New Popular Front (NFP) after President Emmanuel Macron called snap polls.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal "has to go... The New Popular Front is ready to govern", Melenchon said.

It is unclear who might be the alliance's top candidate to be prime minister, with Melenchon a divisive figure even among some supporters of his own party.

Within Melenchon's party, LFI lawmaker Clementine Autain called on the NFP alliance to gather on Monday to decide on a suitable candidate for prime minister.

The alliance, "in all its diversity", needed "to decide on a balance point to be able to govern", she said, adding neither former Socialist president Francois Hollande nor Melenchon would do.

The leader of the Socialist Party (PS) Olivier Faure urged "democracy" within the left-wing alliance so they could work together.

"To move forward together we need democracy within our ranks," he said.

"No outside remarks will come and impose themselves on us," he said in a thinly veiled criticism of Melenchon.

- 'Melenchon... cannot govern' -

Raphael Glucksmann, co-president of the smaller pro-European Place Publique party in the alliance, said everyone was going to have to "behave like adults".

In the projections, "we're ahead, but in a divided parliament... so people are going to have to behave like adults," he said.

"People are going to have to talk to each other."

Communist leader Fabien Roussel, who lost his seat in the first round, said the left would rise up to the task ahead.

"The French have asked us to succeed. And we accept that challenge," he said.

Marine Tondelier, the 37-year-old leader of the Greens, said it was too early to start suggesting the name of a prime minister.

But "we will rule," she said.

Macron made the gamble of calling the parliamentary polls three years early after the far right trounced his centrist allies in European elections.

Stephane Sejourne, the secretary-general of Macron's Renaissance party who has been foreign minister, won a seat in Sunday's polls.

It is "obvious... Melenchon and a certain number of his allies cannot govern France", he said.

"The lawmakers from the centrist bloc will ensure this in parliament."

bur-ah/sjw/imm

French voters deliver a win for the left, a blow for Le Pen and a hung parliament

Updated Sun, 7 July 2024 
By Juliette Jabkhiro, Layli Foroudi and Zhifan Liu

PARIS (Reuters) -France faced potential political deadlock after elections on Sunday threw up a hung parliament, with a leftist alliance unexpectedly taking the top spot but no group winning a majority.

Voters delivered a major setback for Marine Le Pen's nationalist, eurosceptic National Rally (RN), which opinion polls had predicted would win the second-round ballot but ended up in the third spot, according to pollsters' projections.

The results were also a blow for centrist President Emmanuel Macron, who called the snap election to clarify the political landscape after his ticket took a battering at the hands of the RN in European Parliament elections last month.

He ended up with a hugely fragmented parliament, in what is set to weaken France's role in the European Union and elsewhere abroad and make it hard for anyone to push through a domestic agenda.

The election will leave parliament divided in three big groups - the left, centrists, and the far right - with hugely different platforms and no tradition at all of working together.

What comes next is uncertain.

The leftist New Popular Front (NFP) alliance, which wants to cap prices of essential goods like fuel and food, raise the minimum wage to a net 1,600 euros ($1,732) per month, hike wages for public sector workers and impose a wealth tax, immediately said it wanted to govern.

"The will of the people must be strictly respected ... the president must invite the New Popular Front to govern," said hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon.

The RN has worked under Le Pen to shed a historic reputation for racism and antisemitism but many in French society still view its France-first stance and surging popularity with alarm.

There were hugs, screams of joy and tears of relief at the left's gathering in Paris when the voting projections were announced.

Republique square in central Paris filled with crowds and a party atmosphere, with leftwing supporters playing drums, lighting flares, and chanting "We’ve won! We’ve won!"

"I'm relieved. As a French-Moroccan, a doctor, an ecologist activist, what the far right was proposing to do as a government was craziness," said 34-year-old Hafsah Hachad.

The awkward leftist alliance, which the hard left, Greens and Socialists hastily put together before the vote, was far from having an absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-seat assembly.

Official results were trickling in, with the results from most, if not all, constituencies likely in the early hours of Monday. Polling agencies - which are generally accurate - forecast the left would get 184-198 seats, Macron's centrist alliance 160-169 and the RN and its allies 135-143.

The euro fell on Sunday after the vote projections were announced.

"We should get a brief respite in the market ... because we're not seeing an extremist RN majority take place, but it's likely to lead to political gridlock at least until the autumn of 2025," said Aneeka Gupta, macroeconomic research director at WisdomTree.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would hand in his resignation on Monday but would stay on in a care-taking capacity as long as needed.

'DIVIDED'

A key question is whether the leftist alliance will stay united and agree on what course to take.

Melenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), ruled out a broad coalition of parties of different stripes.

Raphael Glucksmann, from the Socialist Party, urged his alliance partners to act like "grown-ups."

"We're ahead, but we're in a divided parliament," he said. "We're going to have to talk, to discuss, to engage in dialogue."

The constitution does not oblige Macron to ask the leftist group to form a government, though that would be the usual step as it is the biggest group in parliament.

In Macron's entourage, there was no indication of his next move.

"The question we're going to have to ask ourselves tonight and in the coming days is: which coalition is capable of reaching the 289 seats to govern?", one person close to him told Reuters.

Some in his alliance, including former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, envisaged a broad cross-party alliance but said it could not include the far-left France Unbowed.

RN DISAPPOINTMENT

For the RN, the result was a far cry from weeks during which opinion polls consistently projected it would win comfortably.

The left and centrist alliances cooperated after the first round of voting last week by pulling scores of candidates from three-way races to build a unified anti-RN vote.

In his first reaction, RN leader Jordan Bardella called the cooperation between anti-RN forces a "disgraceful alliance" that he said would paralyze France.

Le Pen, who will be the party's candidate for the 2027 presidential election, said however that Sunday's ballot, in which the RN made major gains compared with previous elections, had sown the seeds for the future.

"Our victory has been merely delayed," she said.

Voters punished Macron and his ruling alliance for a cost of living crisis and failing public services, as well as over immigration and security.

Le Pen and her party tapped into those grievances, spreading their appeal way beyond their traditional strongholds along the Mediterranean coast and in the country's northern rust belt, but it was not enough to win power.

($1 = 0.9236 euros)

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, Gabriel Stargardter, Sudip Kar Gupta, Michel Rose, Elizabeth Pineau, Blandine Henault, Zhifan Liu, Sybille de La Hamaide, Richard Lough, Dominique Vidalon, Benoit Van Overstraeten; Writing by Ingrid MelanderEditing by Gavin Jones and Frances Kerry)

National Rally pushed into third place in French elections as left-wing coalition comes out on top
Euronews
Sun, 7 July 2024 at 8:36 pm GMT

National Rally pushed into third place in French elections as left-wing coalition comes out on top

A coalition of the French left has won the most seats in the second round of high-stakes legislative elections, beating back the far-right surge but failing to win an outright majority.

According to the final results, the left-wing New Popular Front alliance, formed just three weeks ago, has won 182 seats.

289 seats are needed for a majority in the 577-seat National Assembly.

President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Ensemble (Together) coalition came in second with 168 while the far-right National Rally, widely tipped to win after coming out on top in the first round, finished with 143 seats.

After the first results were published shortly after polls closed, National Rally president Jordan Bardella slammed what he called "the alliance of dishonour" and said they were throwing France to the extreme left.

National Rally president Jordan Bardella delivers a speech in Paris after the second round of the legislative election, July 7, 2024 - Louise Delmotte/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.

"Denying millions of French people the chance to see their ideas brought to power will never be a viable destiny for France. Tonight, by deliberately taking it upon himself to paralyse our institutions, Emmanuel Macron has pushed the country towards uncertainty and instability," he told supporters in Paris.

National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen, who intends to run in the 2027 presidential race, said the results meant France would be "deadlocked".

"It's unfortunate, we will lose another year, another year of illegal immigration, another year of purchasing power loss, another year of insecurity exploding in our country. But if that's what it takes, well, then that’s what it takes," she said.

Leader of France Unbowed, the largest party in the winning coalition, Jean-Luc Mélenchon said the result was a clear rejection of the unpopular Emmanuel Macron and that the president should call on the New Popular Front to govern.

France Unbowed party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon speaks to supporters in Paris after the first results were released, July 7, 2024 - Thomas Padilla/Copyright 2024 The AP. All rights reserved.

"The President must bow and accept this defeat without attempting to circumvent it in any way whatsoever. The Prime Minister must go. He has never received the confidence of the National Assembly. He has just managed the campaign lost by his camp, and he has received a massive popular vote of no confidence," he said.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Sunday night that he would tender his resignation to Macron on Monday morning, saying "Tonight, a new era begins."
What happens now?

This is uncharted territory for modern France which has never experienced a parliament with no dominant party.

The weakened Macron could seek a deal with the moderate left to create a joint government, but France has no tradition of this kind of arrangement. A deal could take the form of a loose, informal alliance that would likely be fragile.

And already, leaders of the New Popular Front are pushing Macron to give their alliance the first chance to form a government and propose a prime minister to share power with him.

If he can't make a deal, Macron could name a government of experts unaffiliated with political parties to handle the day-to-day work of keeping one of Europe's largest countries running. But that would require parliamentary approval. And the first session with new members of National Assembly is July 18.

Meanwhile, no clear figure has emerged as a possible prime minister. Macron's office has said he would wait for the new

BELLA CIAO VICHY II

France's far-right suffers setback as voters deny power

NEWS WIRES
Sun, 7 July 2024 



Despite predictions of an outright majority, Marine Le Pen's National Rally suffered a setback, finishing third due to centrist and leftist alliances, exposing internal party issues.

The champagne was on ice at the far-right National Rally's (RN) headquarters, but the celebratory mood swiftly turned to disbelief when the first projected results from Sunday's parliamentary election appeared on TV screens.

For days, Marine Le Pen had confidently predicted that her party would triumph with an outright majority and her protégé Jordan Bardella would be prime minister. Instead, the National Rally was on course to come third, behind a left-wing alliance and President Emmanuel Macron's centrist bloc.


It was undone to a large extent by tactical dealmaking between centrist and leftist opponents, who pulled more than 200 candidates from three-way races to avoid splitting the anti-RN vote.

The projected result brought to a shuddering halt what had appeared to be the far right's relentless rise in France, carefully engineered by Le Pen who had sough to clean up her party's image and tap the grievances of voters angry over living costs, strained public services, and immigration.

To be sure, Le Pen and her party have suffered disappointment before, most recently her 2022 defeat to Macron in the presidential election and have managed to bounce back more strongly than before.

But for now, the outcome was a bitter pill to swallow.

"The results are disappointing, and they don't represent what French people want," said Jocelyn Cousin, 18, who had come to party HQ expecting a victory party.

(REUTERS)

Melenchon Says French Have Voted 'With Their Conscience'

Sun, 7 July 2024 

France’s leftist New Popular Front wins a shock victory – but now the hard part begins

Paul MILLAR
Sun, 7 July 2024 



France's New Popular Front has won the largest number of seats in the final round of snap parliamentary elections, leaving behind the remnants of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist camp and the far-right National Rally trailing in third place. It’s a staggering result for a closely fought election that has left the country without a clear candidate for prime minister – and the hastily assembled broad leftist coalition without an absolute majority that would allow it to push through its ambitious programme.

The dam has held. After finishing first in the opening round of France’s legislative elections, the far-right National Rally (RN) is trailing third in the final round, estimated by Ipsos Talan to have won between 138 and 145 seats in the National Assembly alongside a splinter group of renegade conservatives from Les Républicains. Marine Le Pen’s party needed 289 seats to win an absolute majority in the 577-seat lower house of parliament. They’ve fallen short – far short.

"Our victory has been merely delayed," she said.


French left-wing alliance wins big in unexpected snap election result

RFI
Sun, 7 July 2024 



A left-wing coalition that came together ahead of France’s snap elections has won the most parliamentary seats in the vote, beating the far-right National Rally into third place, according to exit polls. President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance came in second place.

France was on course for a hung parliament in Sunday's election after the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) alliance came out on top.

If confirmed, the NFP would become the largest grouping in the National Assembly with between 172 and 215 seats in the 577-seat chamber, according to projections based on early results.

Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN), beaten into third place, is predicted to win between 115 to 155 seats – a major upset that looks set to bar the party from running the next government, as it had hoped.

President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance Ensemble (Together), was projected to be narrowly second and win 150-180 seats.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would offer Macron his resignation on Monday but was ready to serve "as long as duty demands", notably in light of the imminent Paris Olympics.

Cries of joy and tears of relief broke out at the leftist alliance's gathering in Paris when the estimates were announced.

Jean-Luc Mélénchon, leader of the NFP's main component – the hard-left France Unbowed – demanded that the left be allowed to form a government.

Turnout in the snap polls was around 67 percent – the highest since 1981.

(With newswires)




Leftist coalition wins most seats in French elections as far-right falls short

Gregor Young
Sun, 7 July 2024 


French leftist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon called the projections an “immense relief for a majority of people in our country”

A COALITION on the left that came together unexpectedly ahead of France’s snap elections won the most parliamentary seats in the vote, according to polling projections on Sunday.

The surprise projections put President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance in second place and the far right in third.

The lack of majority for any single alliance plunged France into political and economic turmoil.

Final results are not expected until late on Sunday or early Monday in the highly volatile snap election, which was called just four weeks ago in a huge gamble for Macron.

The deeply unpopular president lost control of parliament, according to the projections. Marine Le Pen’s far-right drastically increased the number of seats it holds in parliament but fell far short of expectations.

The snap legislative elections in this nuclear-armed nation and major economy will influence the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability.

France now faces the prospect of weeks of political machinations to determine who will be prime minister and lead the National Assembly. And Macron faces the prospect of leading the country alongside a prime minister opposed to most of his domestic policies.

French leftist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon called the projections an “immense relief for a majority of people in our country” and he demanded the resignation of the prime minister.

Melenchon is the most prominent of the leftist leaders who unexpectedly came together ahead of the two-round elections.

The projections, if confirmed by official counts expected later on Sunday or early on Monday, plunge a pillar of the European Union and its second-largest economy into intense uncertainty, with no clarity about who might partner with Macron as prime minister in governing France.

The timing of France’s leap into the political unknown could hardly be worse: With the Paris Olympics opening in less than three weeks, the country will be grappling with domestic instability when the eyes of the world are upon it.

He stunned France, and many in his own government, by dissolving parliament’s lower house, the National Assembly, after the far right surged in French voting for the European elections.

Macron argued that sending voters back to the ballot boxes would provide France with “clarification”.

The president was gambling that with France’s fate in their hands, voters might shift from the far right and left and return to mainstream parties closer to the center – where Macron found much of the support that won him the presidency in 2017 and again in 2022. That, he hoped, would fortify his presidency for his remaining three years in office.

But rather than rally behind him, millions of voters on both the left and right of France’s increasingly polarised political landscape seized on his surprise decision as an opportunity to vent their anger and possibly sideline Macron, by saddling him with a parliament that could now largely be filled with politicians hostile both to him and, in particular, his pro-business policies.

Already in last weekend’s first round of balloting, voters massively backed candidates from the far-right National Rally, in even greater numbers than in voting for the European Parliament. A coalition on of parties on the left took second and his centrist alliance was a distant third.

A hung parliament with no single bloc coming close to getting the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the more powerful of France’s two legislative chambers, would be unknown territory for modern France and usher in political turmoil.

Unlike other countries in Europe that are more accustomed to coalition governments, France does not have a tradition of politicians from rival political camps coming together to form a working majority.

The sharp polarisation of French politics is sure to complicate any coalition-building effort. Racism and antisemitism marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian disinformation campaigns, and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked — highly unusual for France.

The government said it deployed 30,000 police for Sunday’s runoff vote – an indication of both the high stakes and concerns that a far-right victory, or even no clear win for any bloc, could trigger protests.

Any cobbled-together majority risks being fragile, vulnerable to no-confidence votes that could cause it to fall.

Prolonged instability could increase suggestions from his opponents that Macron should cut short his second and last term. The French Constitution prevents him from dissolving parliament again in the next 12 months, barring that as a route to possibly give France greater clarity.

Surprise election win for left-green coalition plunges France into uncertainty

RFI
Sun, 7 July 2024 


In France's biggest political upheaval in decades, a newly formed left-wing alliance is set to take up a majority of seats in parliament, just ahead of Macron's centrist coalition, with far-right National Rally in third place. While final results are still to be announced, it is clear no one grouping has an absolute majority. So a third round – of jockying for further alliances – now begins.

The snap election – called by President Emmanuel Macron following historic wins by the far-right National Rally in June's European polls – looks like leaving parliament divided into three big groups: the left, centrists, and the far right.

They each have radically different platforms and no tradition of working together.


France's political culture is not one of compromise either, so what happens now is far from certain.

Macron has promised to remain as president, but made no public announcement on Sunday, awaiting final results on Monday.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced he would hand in his resignation on Monday. But he also said he could remain in place temporarily, if required, while a new government was formed and to guide France through the upcoming Paris Olympics.

What is clear is that there is major uncertainty over how a government can be formed in what is the EU's second biggest economy and its leading military power.
A power vaccuum

The left, which wants to cap prices of essential goods like fuel and food, raise the minimum wage to a net 1,600 euros per month, hike wages for public sector workers and impose a wealth tax, immediately said it wanted to govern.

(with newswires)


BOURGEOIS CHICKEN LITTLE ECONOMICS 

 
French poll projections plunge country into political and economic turmoil

Maureen Sugden
Sun, 7 July 2024 

A child votes for a parent in the French election, the result of which has plunged the country into disarray (Image: AP)


A coalition on the left that came together unexpectedly ahead of France's snap elections won the most parliamentary seats in the vote, according to polling projections.

The surprise projections just after the polls closed and put President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance in second place and the far right in third.

The lack of majority for any single alliance plunged France into political and economic turmoil. Final results are not expected until late tonight or early on Monday in the highly volatile snap election, which was called just four weeks ago in a huge gamble for Mr Macron.

The deeply unpopular president lost control of parliament, according to the projections. Marine Le Pen's far right drastically increased the number of seats it holds in parliament but fell far short of expectations.

The snap legislative elections in this nuclear-armed nation and major economy will influence the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe's economic stability.

France now faces the prospect of weeks of political machinations to determine who will be prime minister and lead the National Assembly. And Mr Macron faces the prospect of leading the country alongside a prime minister opposed to most of his domestic policies.

French leftist leader Jean-Luc Melenchon called the projections an "immense relief for a majority of people in our country" and he demanded the resignation of the prime minister.

Mr Melenchon is the most prominent of the leftist leaders who unexpectedly came together ahead of the two-round elections.

The projections, if confirmed by official counts expected later on Sunday or early on Monday, plunge a pillar of the European Union and its second-largest economy into intense uncertainty, with no clarity about who might partner with Mr Macron as prime minister in governing France.

The timing of France's leap into the political unknown could hardly be worse: With the Paris Olympics opening in less than three weeks, the country will be grappling with domestic instability when the eyes of the world are upon it.

For 46-year-old Mr Macron's centrists, the legislative elections have turned into a fiasco. He stunned France, and many in his own government, by dissolving parliament's lower house, the National Assembly, after the far right surged in French voting for the European elections.

Mr Macron argued that sending voters back to the ballot boxes would provide France with "clarification".

The president was gambling that with France's fate in their hands, voters might shift from the far right and left and return to mainstream parties closer to the centre - where Mr Macron found much of the support that won him the presidency in 2017 and again in 2022. That, he hoped, would fortify his presidency for his remaining three years in office.

But rather than rally behind him, millions of voters on both the left and right of France's increasingly polarised political landscape seized on his surprise decision as an opportunity to vent their anger and possibly sideline Mr Macron, by saddling him with a parliament that could now largely be filled with politicians hostile both to him and, in particular, his pro-business policies.

Already in last weekend's first round of balloting, voters massively backed candidates from the far-right National Rally, in even greater numbers than in voting for the European Parliament. A coalition on of parties on the left took second and his centrist alliance was a distant third.

A hung parliament with no single bloc coming close to getting the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority in the National Assembly, the more powerful of France's two legislative chambers, would be unknown territory for modern France and usher in political turmoil.

Unlike other countries in Europe that are more accustomed to coalition governments, France does not have a tradition of politicians from rival political camps coming together to form a working majority.

The sharp polarisation of French politics is sure to complicate any coalition-building effort. Racism and antisemitism marred the electoral campaign, along with Russian disinformation campaigns, and more than 50 candidates reported being physically attacked - highly unusual for France. The government said it deployed 30,000 police for Sunday's runoff vote - an indication of both the high stakes and concerns that a far-right victory, or even no clear win for any bloc, could trigger protests.

Any cobbled-together majority risks being fragile, vulnerable to no-confidence votes that could cause it to fall.

Prolonged instability could increase suggestions from his opponents that Mr Macron should cut short his second and last term. The French Constitution prevents him from dissolving parliament again in the next 12 months, barring that as a route to possibly give France greater clarity.

This result might be the biggest surprise in the history of French elections

Sky News
Updated Sun, 7 July 2024 


This is an astonishing result, perhaps the biggest surprise in the history of French elections. Nobody saw it coming - the pollsters, the public or the politicians.

France will not have a far-right government, but that answer, that single fact, does not cover another crucial point. The country is still cloaked in uncertainty.

An election that was supposed to deliver clarity has done exactly the opposite. What lies ahead is a confused picture, dotted with political stalemate, public fury, long-standing feuds and a mass of unanswered questions.

What's clear is that the French parliament will be split between three factions.

'Absolute shock' in French election - follow latest

The biggest, but well short of an absolute majority, will be a left-wing coalition, called the New Popular Front. The centrist group, coalesced behind President Emmanuel Macron, has defied all predictions to come second. And the Rassemblement National (RN), the party predicted to be the biggest by just about everyone, stumbled home in third.

There is no affection between these groups. In fact, there is widespread loathing in all directions, which makes the prospect of coalitions hard to gauge.

Macron, for instance, has long been contemptuous of Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the largest party in the left-wing coalition, just as Macron has disdain for Le Pen.

The rest of the left-wing coalition have turned their back on Melenchon, after he made inflammatory comments about Israel and Gaza, but they also need his support.

So when Melenchon now demands that his group lead, that is far from simple - his coalition partners, for instance, won't accept Melenchon as prime minister. So who would get that job? Nobody knows.

All the parties of the left are united by their vehement opposition to the RN, so much so that they joined with the centrist coalition in a tactical plan to thwart the RN in as many constituencies as possible.

Even to the right, there is disagreement - the centre-right Republicans seem split between those who would support the RN in a coalition, and those who would rather resign than help Marine Le Pen.

It is a bear-pit of argument, marked by the most visceral, divisive anger. Macron, who called this election hastily after suffering a chastening defeat in the European elections, is disliked, widely derided as "the president for the rich". But the coalition between left and centre does seem to have worked.

A week ago, after their clear victory in the first round of the election, there were plenty of people predicting an overall majority for the RN, with Jordan Bardella, Le Pen's 28-year-old protege, installed as prime minister.

Now, that has been dashed. France has turned against the RN. Perhaps, just perhaps, this is what Macron intended - to give the French public the vision of an RN government, and trust that they would bristle against the idea.

The question then - is if Bardella's chance at becoming prime minister has gone, and if Melenchon is unpalatable, then who gets the job instead? And nobody knows.

There is no guide to this, no mechanism to fall back upon.

Gabriel Attal, an acolyte of Macron who was appointed as prime minister earlier this year, may simply carry on by dint that he has the job until it changes. Although he has already said he will offer to resign on Monday if the exit poll is accurate.

If he were to stay on - in the absence of a coalition, his power to do anything, or exert any influence, would be even lower than it was before. Which was, by the way, just about nil.

It is a tumultuous time, reflected by the public interest.

The turnout for this election was the highest for decades; there was a thirst to vote - driven largely by the way in which the RN polarise opinion.

Many turned out specifically to back them, but more, it seems, went to the polling stations in this second round with the express desire to stop France embracing its first far-right government since the Second World War.

Take Etienne. We meet as he emerges from a polling station in the 6th arrondissement, moments after dropping his ballot into the transparent box. He's 31, a filmmaker, and says he's worried about the future.

"My grandfather fought against fascists, so I won't accept the Rassemblement National," he tells me, promising to "take to the streets" to protest if the RN takes power. "We are really fighters. I will defend multiculturalism."

Another woman, smiling and unmistakably Parisienne, breaks into a frown as I ask her about the RN, saying she is "scared" of the party, and anxious about Bardella. "If they win, I would feel miserable and frightened, because he looks like he's very clean, but inside I don't know who he is."

Paris, by an overwhelming majority, has rejected the RN, but this is just another fault line created by this election.

Bardella and Le Pen have huge support outside the big cities - in the nation's rural areas, in the north-east and north-west and dotted across the whole country.

Just like in other nations where populist politicians have thrived - take Hungary, as an example - there is a schism between the politics of the big cities, and the rest of the country.

What happens next is difficult to predict.

France, one of the world's wealthiest and most influential nations, is in a state of flux.


The Latest | In a surprise, French leftists win the most seats in legislative elections

The Associated Press
Updated Sun, 7 July 2024 

APTOPIX France Election
People stand in a square as they react to projected results after the second round of the legislative elections, in Lyon, central France, Sunday, July 7, 2024. Polls have closed in France, and polling projections say a coalition on the left that came together unexpectedly has won the most parliamentary seats in the pivotal runoff elections after a high turnout among voters. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Final results in France say a leftist coalition that came together to try to keep the far right from power has won the most parliamentary seats in runoff elections. There was high voter turnout Sunday.

President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance has come in second and the far right in third. No one has a majority of parliament seats. The far right has drastically increased the number of seats it holds in parliament but fell far short of expectations.

The prime minister says he will turn in his resignation. Many questions lie ahead.

What happens next in this nuclear-armed nation has potential impact on the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability.

Here’s the latest:

It’s official: French voters reject a far-right majority in favor of the left

Final results say a coalition of the French left has won the most seats in legislative elections.

The leftist coalition has taken the most seats in parliament, with at least 181. Macron’s centrists have more than 160 seats. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally have 143 seats after leading in the first round.

There is no majority for anyone, so the unpopular Macron will have to form alliances to run the government.

France now faces the stunning prospect of a hung parliament and political paralysis in a pillar of the European Union. The Paris Olympics are less than three weeks away.

French prime minister says he will resign

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal says he will resign after a leftist coalition surged to the lead in legislative elections.

Attal says he will remain in the post during the upcoming Paris Olympics and for as long as needed, given that polling projections show that no party has won an outright majority. There likely will be weeks of intense political negotiations to choose a new prime minister and form a government.

The leftist coalition dominated in the parliamentary vote, followed by President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists, with the far right in third. The results were a defeat for Macron, with no party in a majority. The unpopular president risks being forced to share power with a prime minister opposed to his pro-business, pro-European Union policies.

Macron will ‘wait’ to make decisions on new government

President Emmanuel Macron’s office says he will “wait for the new National Assembly to organize itself” before making any decisions on the new government.

The National Assembly is scheduled to gather in full session for the first time on July 18. The statement says Macron will ensure the “sovereign choice of the French people will be respected.”

Surprise polling projections say a coalition on the left that came together to try to keep the far right from power has won the most parliamentary seats, with Macron's alliance second and the far-right National Rally third.

A somber far right still claims historic gains

The president of France’s far-right National Rally has claimed historic gains for the party despite surprise projections showing it has fallen far short of expectations.

Jordan Bardella also blamed President Emmanuel Macron for “pushing France into uncertainty and instability.”

In a somber speech after the second-round vote, Bardella denounced the political maneuvering that led the National Rally to fall far short of expectations. An unprecedented number of candidates who qualified for the runoff stepped aside to allow an opponent to go head-to-head with the National Rally candidate, increasing the chances of defeating them.

The anti-immigration, nationalist party still increased its seat count in parliament to an unprecedented high, according to polling projections. No party won a majority.

Leftist leader calls the results an ‘immense relief’

Leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon says the surprise results of the legislative elections are an “immense relief for a majority of people in our country.” He is also demanding the resignation of the prime minister.

Mélenchon is the most prominent of the leftist leaders who unexpectedly came together ahead of the two-round elections. Polling projections have put the leftist coalition in front, followed by President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance and the far right in third.

There is a lack of majority in parliament for any single alliance.

French leftists win most seats in legislative elections, pollsters say

Polling projections say a coalition on the left that came together unexpectedly ahead of France’s snap elections has won the most parliamentary seats.

The surprise projections put President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance in second and the far right in third. The lack of majority for any single alliance has plunged France into political and economic turmoil.

Final results are not expected until late Sunday or early Monday in the snap election that was called just four weeks ago in a huge gamble for Macron.

The deeply unpopular president lost control of parliament, according to the projections. The far right drastically increased the number of seats it holds in parliament but fell far short of expectations.

France now faces the prospect of weeks of political machinations to determine who will be prime minister and lead the National Assembly. And Macron faces the prospect of leading the country alongside a prime minister opposed to most of his domestic policies.

Macron meets with leaders from his alliance before polls close

French President Emmanuel Macron is meeting with leaders from his weakened majority alliance before polls close in Sunday’s second round of legislative elections. Among those present is Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, according to an aide to the president who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting.

Many of Macron’s centrist political allies are furious at his decision to call the surprise elections just three weeks after the far-right National Rally trounced his party in European elections. They fear the centrist coalition will be wiped out in favor of the far right and left.

The first-round vote on June 30 saw major gains for the National Rally, potentially putting the far right in a position to govern France for the first time since World War II. Macron risks being forced to share power with a prime minister opposed to his pro-business, pro-European Union policies.

Some French youth are astonished by support for the far right

Some French youth are astonished by the number of people supporting the far-right National Rally in legislative elections.

Nawel Marrouchi is 15 and wishes she was old enough to vote. “As a binational, I am directly concerned,” the French-Moroccan said in Paris. She fears racism will gain even more ground: “In my class, one guy said once that foreigners shouldn’t get housing. But my father was an immigrant. They should go to these countries to understand why they are coming here.”

Jessica Saada is 31 and says “I think young people have not woken up yet. They don’t realize.” She is baffled by the party’s past and present positions on issues like wearing a headscarf in public: “It’s just going to cause problems and bring more hate.”

Even if the anti-immigration party doesn’t win a majority in parliament, she believes the damage is done.

With three hours before polls close, the turnout is 59.71%

With three hours to go before polls close in France's second round of high-stakes legislative elections, the latest figure on the turnout is 59.71%. It’s the highest turnout since 1981 at this time in the voting day.

The overall turnout is on track to be the highest in four decades. Polls close at 8 p.m. local time.

A pro-independence candidate in New Caledonia wins a parliament seat

In the restive French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, a pro-independence Indigenous Kanak candidate has won a seat in France’s parliament over a loyalist candidate in the second round of voting.

Emmanuel Tjibaou is a political novice and a son of a well-known Kanak independence leader, Jean-Marie Tjibaou, who was assassinated in 1989. He is the first pro-independence candidate to win a seat in the National Assembly since 1986.

Indigenous Kanaks have long sought to break free from France, which took the archipelago in 1853. Polls closed earlier in New Caledonia because of a curfew imposed in response to the violence that flared last month and left nine people dead. There was anger over an attempt by the government of President Emmanuel Macron to amend the French Constitution and change voting lists, which Indigenous Kanaks feared would further marginalize them.

Right-wing candidate and French loyalist Nicolas Metzdorf has won New Caledonia’s second parliament seat.

Macron votes

French President Emmanuel Macron voted in high-stakes legislative elections Sunday that could force him to share power with the rising far right.

Macron called the surprise vote after the anti-immigration, nationalist National Rally made huge gains in the June 9 European elections, taking a huge gamble that French voters would block the far-right party as they always have in the past.

But the National Rally instead won a larger share than ever in the first round on June 30, and its leader Marine Le Pen called on voters to give the party an absolute majority in the second round.

Sunday’s vote determines which party controls the National Assembly and who will be prime minister. If no party wins an absolute majority, forming a government comes only after extensive negotiations.

Early turnout reported

As of noon local time, turnout was at 26.63%, according to France’s interior ministry. That’s slightly higher than the 25.90% reported at the same time during the first round of voting last Sunday.

Parisians worry about future after casting ballots

Voters at a Paris polling station were acutely aware of the elections’ far-reaching consequences for France and beyond.

“The individual freedoms, tolerance and respect for others is what at stake today,” said Thomas Bertrand, a 45-year-old voter who works in advertising. He voted at a school where, as at all French schools, the national motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” was displayed prominently.

Pierre Lubin, a 45-year-old business manager, was worried about whether the elections would produce an effective government.

“This is a concern for us,” Lubin said. “Will it be a technical government or a coalition government made up of (different) political forces?”

Even with the outcome still in doubt, Valerie Dodeman, a 55-year-old legal expert, said she is pessimistic about the future of France.

“No matter what happens, I think this election will leave people disgruntled on all sides,” Dodeman said.

Prime minister casts ballot in Paris suburb

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal cast his ballot in the Paris suburb of Vanves Sunday morning.

Macron is expected to vote later in the seaside town of La Touquet, while Le Pen is not voting after winning her district in northern France outright last week. Across France, 76 candidates secured seats in the first round, including 39 from her National Rally, 32 from the leftist New Popular Front alliance, and two from Macron’s centrist list.

Polls open in mainland France for the second round of high-stakes legislative elections

Voting opened Sunday in mainland France for the second round of high-stake legislative elections that have already seen the largest gains ever for the country’s far-right National Rally party.

French President Emmanuel Macron took a huge gamble in dissolving parliament and calling for the elections after his centrists were trounced in European elections on June 9. The first round on June 30 saw the largest gains ever for the anti-immigration, nationalist National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen. Sunday’s vote determines which party controls the National Assembly and who will be prime minister.

If support is further eroded for Macron’s weak centrist majority, he will be forced to share power with parties opposed to most of his pro-business, pro-European Union policies.

The second-round voting began Saturday in France’s overseas territories from the South Pacific to the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and North Atlantic. The elections wrap up Sunday at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) in mainland France. Initial polling projections are expected Sunday night, with early official results expected late Sunday and early Monday.

Candidates make hurried deals to try to stop far-right National Rally from leading government

Opposition parties made hurried deals ahead of Sunday's second round of voting to try to block a landslide victory for Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally in the legislative elections, as she said her party would lead the government only if it won an absolute majority — or close to it.

An unprecedented number of candidates who qualified for Round 2 from the left-wing alliance of the New Popular Front and from President Emmanuel Macron’s weakened centrists have stepped aside to favor the candidate most likely to win against a National Rally opponent.

According to a count by French newspaper Le Monde, some 218 candidates who were supposed to compete in the second round have pulled out. Of those, 130 were on the left, and 82 came from the Macron-led centrist alliance Ensemble.


France's elections end up with no clear majority. This is what could happen next
SYLVIE CORBET
Sun, 7 July 2024 at 5:18 pm GMT-6·4-min read






APTOPIX France Election
People stand in Republique Plaza as they react to the projection of results during the second round of the legislative elections, in Paris, France, Sunday, July 7, 2024. Polls have closed in France, and polling projections say a coalition on the left that came together unexpectedly has won the most parliamentary seats in the pivotal runoff elections after a high turnout among voters. Banner at center reads "France is the fabric of migratation."

 (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

PARIS (AP) — Election results show French voters have chosen to give a broad leftist coalition the most parliamentary seats in pivotal legislative elections, keeping the far right away from power. Yet no party won an outright majority, putting France in an uncertain, unprecedented situation.

President Emmanuel Macron ’s centrist alliance arrived in second position and the far right in third — still drastically increasing the number of seats it holds in the National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament.

No clear figure has emerged as a possible future prime minister. Macron says he will wait to decide his next steps, and heads to Washington this week for a NATO summit. The new legislators can start work in Parliament on Monday, and their first new session starts July 18.

A hung parliament?

Three major political blocs emerged from the elections — yet none of them is close to the majority of at least 289 seats out of 577.

The National Assembly is the most important of France’s two houses of parliament. It has the final say in the law-making process over the Senate, which is dominated by conservatives.

While not uncommon in other European countries, modern France has never experienced a parliament with no dominant party.

Such a situation requires lawmakers to build consensus across parties to agree on government positions and legislation. France’s fractious politics and deep divisions over taxes, immigration and Mideast policy make that especially challenging.

This means Macron's centrist allies won't be able to implement their pro-business policies, including a promise to overhaul unemployment benefits. It could also make passing a budget more difficult.

Can Macron make a deal with the left ?

Macron may seek a deal with the moderate left to create a joint government. Such negotiations, if they happen, are expected to be very difficult because France has no tradition of this kind of arrangement.

The deal could take the form of a loose, informal alliance that would likely be fragile.

Macron has said he would not work with the hard-left France Unbowed party, but he could possibly stretch out a hand to the Socialists and the Greens. They may refuse to take it, however.

His government last week suspended a decree that would have diminished worker’s rights to unemployment benefits, which has been interpretated as gesture toward the left.

If he can’t make a political deal, Macron could name a government of experts unaffiliated with political parties. Such a government would likely deal mostly with day-to-day affairs of keeping France running.

Complicating matters: Any of those options would require parliamentary approval.

Is the left divided?

The left has been torn by divisions in the past months, especially after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

France Unbowed has been sharply criticized by other more moderate leftists for its stance on the conflict. Hard-left leaders have staunchly condemned the conduct of Israel’s war with Hamas and accused it of pursuing genocide against Palestinians. They have faced accusations of antisemitism, which they strongly deny.

The Socialists ran independently for the European Union elections last month, winning about 14% of the votes, when France Unbowed got less than 10% and the Greens 5.5%.

Yet Macron's move to call snap legislative elections pushed leftist leaders to quickly agree on forming a new coalition, the New Popular Front.

Their joint platform promises to raise the minimum salary from 1,400 to 1,600 euros, to pull back Macron’s pension reform that increased the retirement age from 62 to 64 and to freeze prices of essential food products and energy. All that has financial markets worried.

Is an interim government needed?

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he will resign Monday. He also said he is ready to remain in the post during the upcoming Paris Olympics and for as long as needed. An interim government would handle current affairs pending further political negotiations.

Macron’s office says he will “wait for the new National Assembly to organize itself” before making any decisions on the new government.

There is no firm timeline for when Macron must name a prime minister, and no firm rule that he has to name a prime minister from the largest party in parliament.

What about Macron?

The president's term runs until 2027, and he has said he will not step down before its end.

With no majority and no possibility to implement his own plans, Macron comes out weakened from the elections.

In line with France's constitution, he still holds some powers over foreign policy, European affairs and defense and is in charge of negotiating and ratifying international treaties. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the country’s armed forces, and holds the nuclear codes.

There’s a possibility the new prime minister would be unable or unwilling to seriously challenge Macron’s defense and foreign policy powers, and would focus instead on domestic politics.

The prime minister is accountable to parliament, leads the government and introduces bills.

___

Follow AP’s global election coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections/

Shock results in French election: Who are the winners and losers in Paris?

Jack Schickler
Sun, 7 July 2024 


Shock results in French election: Who are the winners and losers in Paris?


The left-wing alliance the New Popular Front has come first in French legislative elections, but failed to obtain a majority of lawmakers needed to control the National Assembly, according to an exit poll.

The predictions from Ipsos represent a setback for the far-right National Rally (RN) – which saw its hopes of an absolute majority shattered by tactical voting and candidates strategically withdrawing.

The New Popular Front (NFP), a hastily formed coalition of socialists, communists, greens and the leftist France Unbowed party, is set to take between 171 and 187 of the chamber’s 577 seats, Ipsos predicted.

It’s followed by the Ensemble coalition of President Emmanuel Macron – which Ipsos predicts will get 152-163 seats, a significant fall from the 245 it gained in the most recent 2022 elections.

Despite topping the polls in a first round held on 30 June, Marine Le Pen’s RN National Rally likely came third with 134-152 seats, which, if confirmed, would dash hopes of installing Jordan Bardella as Prime Minister.

Today’s poll was the second round of snap elections called by Macron on 9 June, after he took a hammering in a vote to select Members of the European Parliament.

Ensemble, previously known as En Marche, was largely assembled around the presidency of Macron, who’s become increasingly unpopular as his second and final term reaches its closing years.

His collapse has largely benefited RN, a long-established radical right-wing party which had zero Assembly seats as recently as 2007.

Leftists up, centre-right founders

The NFP was assembled in June to fend off the threat from the far-right, though it didn’t succeed in achieving full unity; left-wing parties outside the NFP took 14-16 seats, the poll suggested.

In 2022, the equivalent coalition, known as NUPES, gained 131 seats, while other leftists had 22 – though it’s not clear how long the NFP’s disparate alliance will hang together.

The results spell continuing bad news for the Republicans.

The centre-right party of Charles de Gaulle and Nicolas Sarkozy long dominated French politics, but it (and its allies) are now predicted to gain 63-68 seats – albeit that doesn’t count those members, including party leader Eric Ciotti, that pledged allegiance to Le Pen.
Who will be Prime Minister?

Given the results, Macronist Gabriel Attal seems likely to lose his post as Prime Minister, which he’s only held since January – though it’s not clear who will replace him.

The French constitution allows for “cohabitation”, with a President and Prime Minister from different parties. It last happened from 1997-2002, when Socialist Lionel Jospin ruled alongside centre-right President Jacques Chirac.

But it’s unprecedented for no party to win a majority without any obvious ruling coalition, and France may now find itself in an unfamiliar deadlock.

France has a two-round electoral system – only those who scored sufficiently well in a 30 June vote advanced to today’s run-off.

But around 215 successful candidates stepped down over the course of the week, as the “Republican Front” sought to avoid splitting the anti-far-right vote in constituencies where three or more people made it through.

With so much at stake, voters have turned out in droves. As at 6.25pm, turnout was at 67.1%, the highest seen since 1997 and far higher than the 46.2% gained in 2022, Ipsos said.

Already this afternoon, Paris was bracing for potentially violent protests at the outcome, and shops on the swanky Champs-Elysées boarded up their windows in preparation.

UPDATE: this story was updated at 22:00 to reflect latest Ipsos exit polls.

French Jewish people conflicted over voting choices amid antisemitism fears
Lili Bayer in Paris
Sat, 6 July 2024


A demonstrator holds a placard at a rally against the far right at Place de la République in Paris last month.Photograph: Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP/Getty Images

As France faces a high-stakes second round of elections on Sunday, French Jewish people say they are grappling with tough choices and feel caught between extremes amid concerns about rising antisemitism.

As part of her longstanding efforts to detoxify the image of the far-right National Rally (RN) – currently leading in opinion polls – Marine Le Pen, to the incredulity of many, has sought to present herself as a friend of Jewish people and Israel.

Meanwhile, polling in second place is the left-green New Popular Front (NPF) alliance, which includes the centre-left and greens and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s hard-left party, France Unbowed (LFI). Senior figures within LFI have made comments that many French Jews and others have described as antisemitic.

These dynamics have raised profound questions for French Jewish communities, with many saying they feel stuck in the middle, with antisemitism not being sufficiently addressed.

The Guardian spoke with more than a dozen members of French Jewish communities in the days before the second round of elections, from politicians and public intellectuals to pensioners, student leaders and young professionals. The conversations reflected a diversity of views on political ideology and voting and a broad consensus about fears of rising antisemitic rhetoric and violence.

On Friday, the umbrella group Crif, which represents Jewish organisations in France, and the country’s chief rabbi, Haïm Korsia, were among the signatories of a public statement reiterating their formal stance: “Neither RN nor LFI.”

In an interview in Paris, the writer and philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy said: “All the Jews I know agree they will of course never vote for France Unbowed, and they will never vote for Marine Le Pen.”

When it came to RN, he said: “There is absolutely no evidence of a deep change on the matter of antisemitism.”

Related: The French republic is under threat. We are 1,000 historians and we cannot remain silent | Patrick Boucheron, Antoine Lilti and others

RN, originally named Front National, was co-founded by Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who is well known for his antisemitic remarks. He has been convicted several times of contesting crimes against humanity, including for his claims that the gas chambers used to kill Jews during the Holocaust were only a “detail” of history.

Early members of the party included former leaders of a Waffen-SS military unit under Nazi command during the second world war. Pierre Bousquet, of the Waffen-SS Charlemagne division, was the party’s first treasurer and a founding member.

Even after its rebranding, RN has continued to face repeated scandals, including election candidates making allegedly antisemitic remarks.

The RN and LFI have repeatedly rejected accusations of antisemitism. Neither party responded to requests for comment on the antisemitism allegations.

For many French Jews, both parties are deemed unacceptable.

In the days before the second round, members of the Union of French Jewish Students (UEJF) travelled to key constituencies to try to convince voters not to vote for extremes. As part of efforts to form a “republican front” against the far right, many centrist candidates who came third in the first round have since pulled out, leaving many voters with a straight choice between an NPF candidate and the RN.

Viviane, who asked to be identified by her first name only, said if the left had entered the second round in her area, she might have been open to voting for the far right, adding: “I’m not sure what I would have done at the last minute – I don’t think I would have managed to cast a ballot for the National Rally.”

In the days leading up to Sunday’s vote, a few people told the Guardian they were planning to vote for the far right, despite not feeling fully comfortable with the party. For many others, casting a vote for the RN remains an unthinkable prospect.

After morning prayers at a synagogue in central Paris on Saturday, there were heated conversations over snacks: is the far right really a lesser evil? Is not voting at all best?

French Jews who identify with the left and support the NPF, meanwhile, have also grappled with dilemmas. Lévy said he believed it had been “a political mistake, a moral fault” to include LFI in the leftwing alliance. Not everyone agrees.

Related: French elections: what is the republican front – and will it head off National Rally?

Alice Timsit, 30, a city councillor and member of Les Écologistes party, described a growing feeling of isolation within the French left since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October and Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza. “It was very difficult for me to realise that my own political family left us alone,” adding that this was why she had joined Golem, a leftwing French Jewish collective.

Asked about LFI, she said that while some leaders had made antisemitic remarks, it was not antisemitic as a party when it came to policy. “It’s absolutely vital,” she said, to have LFI as part of the NPF because the far right “is a huge, huge risk for democracy”.

Timsit added that antisemitism needed to be addressed, including on the left. “I’m very sure that the left wing can do some great things, but to do that, we have to also face problems. We have to face it, because denying it is the worst thing to do.”

Others on the left share this view – to an extent.

Ariel Weil, a socialist serving as mayor of Paris Centre – an area covering four districts of the capital, said that in his view RN was incompatible with Jewish values, but also raised concerns about elements of LFI, saying he had always been “extremely opposed” to an alliance with them.

“There are only a few places where voters have to choose [on Sunday] between the extreme left wing and the extreme right wing … I’ve said, amongst others, that there are maybe 10 people that you can’t vote for amongst the Mélenchon party. You can’t vote for them because they are fascists from the left wing,” he said.

Aside from those candidates, said Weil, voters must back LFI against its far-right opponents.

“We are trying to walk a fine line,” he said, adding that once the election was over the left would have some challenges to address. “We are going to need to rebuild social democracy – and put an end to this alliance with people that do not share [our values].”