Around 40 per cent of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally supporters say they will vote for the far-left NUPES coalition if the only other option is President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble Citoyens bloc.
A poll released this week has suggested that as many as 40 per cent of National Rally (RN) voters will be voting for the far-left the New Ecologic and Social People’s Union (NUPES) bloc led by Jean-Luc Melenchon in second-round run-off votes this Sunday for the French parliamentary elections if the race is between NUPES and Macron’s centrist bloc.
The poll, which was released by the firm OpinionWay, suggests that just 11 per cent of National Rally voters would be inclined to vote for Macron’s bloc against the NUPES coalition, broadcaster BFMTV reports.
In last week’s first round of the parliamentary elections, Macron’s Ensemble and NUPES were neck and neck in the total number of votes, fueling speculation that Macron may not be able to win another parliamentary majority, which could hinder his ability to pass legislation during his second term as French president.
According to OpinionWay, their own projections show that President Macron may not be able to form a majority in the French parliament and they estimate Ensemble will win between 275 to 305 seats, with 289 seats being the minimum needed for a majority.
Far-left former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the NUPES bloc, already predicted that Macron and his bloc would not form a majority following the first round of the elections last week saying, “The truth is that the presidential party is beaten and defeated.”
Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) is expected to increase its seat count, which was just eight seats following the 2017 elections, to between 20 and 45 seats.
Ms Le Pen will also be running this weekend in her constituency of Henin-Beaumont because despite achieving a majority of votes in the first round, the low turnout requires that she proceed to a second-round run-off vote.