More than 210 candidates in France’s snap parliamentary elections have withdrawn in favor of a stronger peer who might have a better chance of countering the far right, according to media reports.
The total includes 131 candidates from the left-wing alliance New Popular Front and 82 from the centrist alliance Together for the Republic who stepped down ahead of the second round of the polls on Sunday, Le Monde said Tuesday, after the deadline for such moves passed.
Some candidates from other political sides also withdrew for various reasons.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, a member of the centrist alliance backed by President Emmanuel Macron, told France Inter early Wednesday that in 90% of the cases, “whether from our side or the New Popular Front, the candidates withdrew.”
The strategy is simple: The candidate who withdraws from the race is working to avoid dividing ballots opposing the right wing and so makes room for another candidate who might have a better chance beating a far-right National Rally (RN) candidate.
There are, however, also a large number of candidates who did not bow out, including 178 from the left-wing alliance and 169 from the centrist bloc.
“There are some candidates who think that by remaining present (in the race), they reduce the risk of an RN victory,” Attal explained.
On June 9, Macron dissolved parliament and called early elections after the National Rally won more than 31% of the vote in European Parliament elections, roundly defeating his centrist bloc.
The RN got 29.5% of the vote by itself in the first round on June 30 – a rate that rises to over 33% when combined with its allies – according to official election results.
The party alone got more than 9.37 million votes, giving it 37 seats in parliament.
The left-wing alliance New Popular Front got 27.99% (over 8.9 million votes), putting it second with 32 seats.
The centrist Together for the Republic alliance backed by Macron finished third with slightly over 20.04% (more than 6.4 million votes), securing only two seats.
The second round of the elections will take place on Sunday to elect 577 members of the National Assembly for a five-year term.