200 candidates quit French runoff, aiming to block far right: AFP tally

200 candidates quit French runoff, aiming to block far right: AFP tally

At least 200 candidates have stood down ahead of France's runoff election as President Emmanuel Macron and a left-wing coalition seek to block the far right, an AFP tally showed on Tuesday. On Sunday, France votes in the decisive final round of the snap legislative polls Macron called after his camp received a drubbing in European elections last month. The rivals are hoping that tactical withdrawals […]

July 2, 2024 31

World

France’s Macron has gambled. Can he win?

By Clare BYRNE In the seven years since he swept to power on a mission to rejuvenate France's jaded political landscape, President Emmanuel Macron has developed a reputation for risk-taking. But in calling snap legislative elections after a trouncing in the European elections at the hands of the far right National Rally (RN) he has taken his biggest gamble yet. And one, according to analysts […]

June 20, 2024 9

World

Snap elections in France: a political scientist lays out what’s at stake

By Julien Robin, Université de Montréal Speaking at a surprise address to the nation on Sunday evening, French president Emmanuel Macron told French citizens he had “decided to give [them] back the choice of our parliamentary future through the vote”. These words, pronounced in reaction to the historic surge of the far-right National Rally at the European elections, triggered the dissolution of France’s […]

June 11, 2024 12