Tens of thousands of people protest against the risk of the extreme right coming to power in France | International

The prospect of Marine Le Pen’s far-right coming to power in France has brought tens of thousands of people to the streets in France this Saturday. The demonstrations, called by left-wing unions and associations, have taken place throughout the country, at a time of political storm after the unexpected advancement of the legislative elections by the president, Emmanuel Macron, following the victory of the ultra National Regrouping party ( RN) in the European elections of June 9. Given the risks of altercations, the police have deployed 21,000 officers. The left-wing parties have joined the call, which agreed the day before to present themselves with a common program for the June 30 and July 7 elections.

The arrival of the extreme right to power “has never been more possible,” says Roland, 64 years old. For him, Macron’s decision to call elections is the “act of a madman.” “The president is the guarantor of the institutions. He has played Russian roulette with France,” he points out. “We live in a terrifying time,” says Nicolas, 34, who prefers not to give his last name and that he participated in the march in the French capital with three friends. “We must prevent Le Pen from reaching the second round,” he adds, while his colleagues show the posters they prepared for the occasion. “France is not fascist,” says one. “This is Paris, it is not Vichy,” he reads in another, in reference to the French collaborationist regime with Nazi Germany during World War II.

Nearly 200 rallies are planned throughout the weekend to express rejection of the possible arrival of the extreme right to power. The protests began on Saturday morning in towns such as Bayonne, in the French Basque Country, Toulon, in the south, and Valenciennes, in the north. In Lyon they will take place on Sunday, although nearly 2,000 people already demonstrated on Friday before the City Councilaccording to the prefecture.

France is going through a turbulent time. Since the victory of the RN in the European elections, with 31.5% of the votes, and the subsequent call for legislative elections, the country has been immersed in uncertainty. The political upheavals do not cease in one of the shortest campaigns in the modern history of France.

The left-wing parties have united in the so-called “new popular front”, ranging from the eurosceptics of Jean-Luc Mélenchon to the pro-European social democrats of Raphaël Glucksmann. On this side, the first divisions emerged this Saturday, after La Francia Insumisa (Mélenchon’s party twinned with Podemos) published a list of candidates that did not include five outgoing deputies, known for their clashes with the leader of the party. Some well-known left-wing leaders have criticized Mélenchon for what they consider a purge of his rivals. The fact that the list did include Adrien Quatennens, convicted of sexist violence in 2022, has also generated controversy. On the traditional right, the Los Republicanos (LR) party, twinned with the Spanish PP, is torn in two after its leader, Éric Ciotti, decided to make an agreement with the far right.

The week has also been marked by several announcements. Former president François Hollande announced this Saturday that he is presenting his candidacy for the Socialist Party, integrated into the left-wing alliance, in a constituency in the center of the country.

According to the first polls, which given the changing political situation it is advisable to take with a distance, the RN could win the elections and be in a position to form the next Government. A survey published by the magazine Le Point predicted on Friday that Le Pen’s party would lead the first round with 29.5% of the vote, ahead of the coalition of left-wing parties, which would obtain 28.5%. Macron’s centrists would be at 18%.

“It is a historic moment, we are facing a leap into the unknown for our democracy,” he declared on the station. France Inter Marylise Léon, leader of the moderate CFDT union, the first in France. “With our popular tidal wave, we are going to avoid this catastrophe organized by Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen,” said Sophie Binet, the general secretary of another union confederation, the CGT, before the demonstration began in Paris.

In Paris, the march began in the central Place de la République, where hundreds of people chanted slogans against the extreme right and in favor of the left-wing alliance. Lahna Cisse, 23, who highlights that her grandparents came to the country as immigrants, distributes leaflets from the new popular front. “It is important to go to vote,” she says, expressing her concern about the abstention of the youngest, which reveals, according to her, a certain “democratic deficit.”

His friend Yasmin Hamrit, 21, believes that Macron called these elections to increase his popularity, after a year marked by massive protests against his flagship pension project, with which he increased the retirement age.

The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, sent a note this Saturday to prefects and security officials to warn them of an “extremely sensitive” security situation before the elections. In the message, he warns of possible confrontations between the extreme right, with 2,700 people “under surveillance”, and the extreme left, with 5,500.

Monique Chatelet, 66, remembers the demonstrations of May 2002, when almost a million people took to the streets to protest against the far-right Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of the current RN leader, after he managed to reach the second round in the presidential elections. “Marine Le Pen managed to trivialize the National Front [el nombre del partido entonces]. “He almost managed to make his father forget,” adds his friend Roland.

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