Spain’s socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, has described the French parliamentary election’s first round results as a warning of a far-right surge.
In an interview, he said, “The advance of the far right in France isn’t unconnected with what’s happening in other parts of the world – including in Spain – where we’re seeing how, directly or indirectly … the far right is advancing institutionally and in the opinion polls.”
Nonetheless, Sanchez added that his own government was proof that progressive politics can still win out.
His socialist party and its leftwing allies managed to secure a new term in office after the conservative People’s party finished first in last summer’s general election but failed to win enough support to take office.
Like Macron, Sanchez also gambled by calling a snap poll in response to his party’s poor electoral showing.
However, Sanchez’s gamble paid off, albeit at the cost of offering Catalan separatist parties a deeply controversial amnesty …
Sanchez also stated that he doesn’t take the victory of the French far right as a given.
“I think everything will depend on the socialist party, on its strength and on the unity of the left. There’s also a lesson from Spain there …
“You always beat the far right by governing and bringing in progressive policies that, one-by-one, give the lie to all the fake news that it spreads.”
Pedro Sanchez
Separately, Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, issued a warning about the far right.
“They love Putin, money and power without control. And they are already in power or are reaching for it in the East or West of Europe,” he posted on X.
“They are joining ranks in the European Parliament. In Poland, we reversed this fatal tide at the very last moment. Let’s not waste it,” he added.
Macron’s Gamble Backfired
Meanwhile, Célia Belin, head of Paris office and senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, opined, “In short, the gamble has backfired. Massively.”
Belin noted that Macron’s decision to call snap elections amounted to self-sabotage, accelerating the rise of the far-right in French politics by months or even years.
Belin added that Macron did not rise to his 2017 and 2022 promise that he will be a bulwark against the far right.
In power, Macron has been unable to compromise or build a governing coalition with the right or negotiate on his platform. Instead, the far-right’s overwhelming surge, combined with a small but resilient grouping of Les Républicains, suggests the most likely majority will be in this camp.
Additionally, Paul Taylor, a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre, looked at the national and international consequences of Macron’s gamble.
He said, “President Emmanuel Macron’s gamble of dissolving parliament and seeking a “clarification” from voters after an ultra-short three-week campaign backfired spectacularly on his own supporters …”
“The Macron era is over, even if the president stays in the Élysée palace until his term ends in 2027. The electorate overwhelmingly rejected him for the second time in a month. His hold on both domestic and European policy will be seriously diminished, whatever the outcome of next week’s run-offs.”
Paul Taylor
Taylor said that whether the RN wins an absolute majority in next Sunday’s second round and Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 28-year-old protege, becomes Prime Minister, or whether it falls short and France endures a period of instability with a hung parliament, “it is only a matter of time now before the Eurosceptic France-first nationalists gets its day in government.”
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