Negotiations for Coalition Formation; The Far-Right Party 'National Rally' Hopes to Govern France

The far-right party 'National Rally' in France, led by Marine Le Pen, is negotiating with potential allies to form a coalition that could establish a government if they win the upcoming snap elections in July. According to AFP, polls indicate that this far-right party could lead for the first time in the upcoming elections, but it will not secure enough seats for an absolute majority. The snap elections, announced shortly after the results of the European Parliament elections by Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, have impacted the political landscape of the country, prompting various parties to quickly introduce candidates and prepare their electoral programs. The main challenge for the anti-immigration and anti-EU party 'National Rally' is to convert its current popularity into a domestic victory and convince voters that it is reliable to govern France after decades of marginalization. Laurent Jacobelli, a lawmaker from this party in the National Assembly, told Reuters, 'Everything Marine Le Pen has done in recent years has turned us into a party that can be part of the government.' Regarding the introduction of candidates for all 577 constituencies in France, he mentioned that dozens of candidates will come from the conservative Republicans party, whose leader, Eric Ciotti, expressed interest in an alliance with the 'National Rally' on Tuesday, June 11. However, his remarks led to significant protests from many senior members of his party, with some calling for his expulsion. Sources from the conservative Republicans party, however, express doubt that Eric Ciotti can rally a large number of candidates from the party. Laurent Jacobelli stated that although the 'National Rally' does not have a shadow government with a complete list of potential ministers, it seeks to form a 'national unity government' by combining forces from within and outside the party. This term is usually used for a wide range of parties, but in this case, it only includes members of the 'National Rally,' hardline conservatives, and independent candidates associated with this far-right party. For several decades, the 'National Rally' has been kept away from power by voters who were skeptical of its far-right and radical policies, aided by coalitions among mainstream parties. However, under the leadership of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, the new party leader, it has detoxified its image among voters. This far-right party advocates for protectionist economic policies under the banner 'France First,' a drastic reduction in immigration, limiting state childcare benefits to French citizens, and revoking residency for immigrants who have been unemployed for over a year. The party has also proposed higher public spending, disregarding France's high debt levels, which would increase financing costs in banks. Meanwhile, weakened and fragmented leftist parties in France are engaged in intensive negotiations to reach a common agreement on dividing constituencies and retaining as many of their representatives in parliament as possible. In this context, there is talk of forming a 'united front' similar to the 'Popular Front' established in the mid-1930s to keep fascist sympathizers away from power in France. On the other hand, Gabriel Attal, the Prime Minister of France, met with his ministers and allies on Thursday, June 13, to work on their program and then traveled to northern France to kick off the election campaign. He told reporters, 'I see many French people who are concerned about governing France by extremists. We must convince them that they should choose our path, which is a forward-looking, republican, democratic, and social path.' The leader of the conservative Republicans in France called for unity with the far-right party 'National Rally.'