French far right dominates polls three days ahead of snap elections

RFI

27 June 2024 at 5:14 am·1-min read

France's political future was up in the air on Thursday with the far right surging in polls but other forces fighting to the end three days before a high-stakes parliamentary vote.

Depending on the result, President Emmanuel Macron could be left in a tense "cohabitation" with a prime minister from an opposing party.

Or he could find himself with a parliament unable to produce a stable majority to govern the European Union's second economy and its top military power.

Surveys suggest voters could hand the National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen more than 32 percent support, with a left alliance on up to 30 and Macron's centrists in the dust at around 20 percent.

But even France's seasoned pollsters are struggling to predict a final result. The 7 July second-round run-off ballots – many expected to be three-way fights – could see voters shift allegiances and new alliances of convenience form.

Higher-than-usual turnout could also transform the vote.

When he called the snap poll after a 9 June European Parliament election drubbing by the RN, Macron had hoped to present voters with a stark choice about whether to hand France to the far right.

But the lightning three-week campaign "wasn't going to turn around the major trends", Brice Teinturier, deputy director of pollster Ipsos, told Le Monde daily.

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