Le Pen: Macron’s bloc was “virtually wiped out”

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Lerato Khumalo

Marine Le Pen triumphs, Macron looks for new partners: This is how the president and his rival react to the election results.

The former head of the right-wing populist Rassemblement National (RN), Marine Le Pen, has welcomed the outcome of the first round of the parliamentary elections in France. President Emmanuel Macron’s bloc has been “practically wiped out,” Le Pen said in an initial reaction on Sunday evening.

The French have “shown their will to turn away from seven years of contemptuous and corrosive power” of Macron, said Le Pen, who was elected in the first round in her northern constituency. She also called on the French to give the RN “an absolute majority” for her party in the second round.

According to initial projections, the right-wing populists are clearly ahead with around 34 percent of the vote. According to three forecasts from Sunday evening, the RN could have a relative or absolute majority after the second round on July 7. President Macron’s government camp is lagging behind at around 21 percent. Voter turnout was higher than it has been for decades, at more than 60 percent.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a broad alliance in light of the right-wing populists’ election victory. “In light of the Rassemblement National, it is necessary to form a broad, democratic and republican alliance for the second round of elections,” Macron said on Sunday, according to the Elysées.

The high voter turnout in the first round testifies to the “importance of this election for all our compatriots and the will to clarify the political situation,” the President stressed. “Your democratic choice obliges us,” he added.

According to projections, Macron’s camp has slipped to third place with about 21 percent.