France Elections: Over 200 Candidates From Left & Macron's Centrist Camp Quit To Block Far-Right Win

RN president and PM-hopeful Jordan Bardella describes arrangement as the result of an 'alliance of dishonour' between parties that were previously at odds with each other

Over 200 candidates have withdrawn from France’s election as President Emmanuel Macron's centrists and a left-wing coalition aim to prevent the far right from gaining power. According to AFP, France will vote for the final round of the snap legislative polls on Sunday. The election was called by Macron following a significant defeat of his camp in the European Union election last month. 

The rivals are hoping that tactical withdrawal to unify the vote ahead of the runoff will prevent the far-right National Rally (RN) party of Marine Le Pen from winning an absolute majority of 289 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly. 

Ahead of Tuesday’s 6 pm (local time) deadline for registration for the second round, at least 200 candidates dropped out, almost all from the left wing or Macron’s centrist camp, AFP reported. 

No official list of withdrawals has been released, the BBC reported, saying that between 214 and 218 third-placed contenders are believed to have withdrawn from the race in their constituencies. This reduces the number of three-way contests to around 108, down from just over 300.

RN president and prime-ministerial-hopeful Jordan Bardella criticised these arrangements as the result of an “alliance of dishonour” between parties that were previously at odds with each other, BBC reported.

With more than 10.6 million votes, the far-right party scored a victory in the first round that was conducted on June 30. Only 76 lawmakers, mostly from the far right and left, were elected outright in the first round. The remaining 501 seats’ fate will be decided in the second round through runoff elections between 2-3 remaining candidates, according to AFP. 

According to BBC, RN, which is led by Marine Le Pen in parliament, accused the president on Tuesday of carrying out an “administrative coup d’état” after hearing reports that he was preparing several key appointments in the police and army just days ahead of the vote.

Meanwhile, a far-right candidate, Ludivine Daoudi, also withdrew from the race after an old social media post surfaced online, showing her wearing a Nazi cap.