According to the newspaper Le Monde, 169 parliamentary candidates who qualified for the second round of the French parliamentary elections announced today that they are withdrawing to reduce the chances of Marine Le Pen’s far-right party winning in their constituency.
Most of them came third in votes in the first round, but advanced to the second round because they gathered more than 12.5% of registered voters in their constituency. However, their chances of coming first in the second round and securing the spot were quite limited.
The numbers
122 of those withdrawn were candidates from the New Popular Front of left-wing parties, 46 from President Macron’s party, while one candidate was from the Republican Party.
Out of a total of 577 single-seat constituencies in France, three candidates qualified yesterday in 305, while four candidates qualified in five constituencies. Two candidates qualified in 191 constituencies, while 76 deputies were elected to the French National Assembly in the first round, garnering more than 51% of the vote. Furthermore, out of the 577 single-seat constituencies across France, the far right came first yesterday in 297 constituencies, the left in 159, the Macron faction in 70 and the Republican Party in 20 constituencies. In the other 31 constituencies, other parties came first, where relatively the majority are placed on the left. It should be noted that yesterday the left came third in votes in 129 constituencies and the Macron faction in 90 constituencies.
The withdrawal of parliamentary candidates is expected to continue until 7:00 pm tomorrow, Greek time, when the last deadline for validating nominations in the second round of the parliamentary elections that will take place next Sunday ends.
Source: AMPE