France: Can a coalition of centre and leftist parties block an all out majority?
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 1 July 2024
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Opponents of the French far-right National Rally party have begun stepping aside in favour of better placed candidates in the hope of limiting its gains in next Sunday's second round of parliamentary elections. In several constituencies just one candidate will face the RN. The party's co-leader, Jordan Bardella, has expressed confidence that it could win an absolute majority.
Also in the programme: We speak to the injured Palestinian man who says Israeli soldiers tied him to an army vehicle, and behind-the-scenes at the late Queen's favourite house as tourists are allowed into Balmoral Castle.
(Photo: Jean-Luc Mélenchon said his party's guideline was simple: not one more vote for RN. Credit: AFP)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to News Hour live from the BBC World Service in London. |
| 0:08.3 | I'm Rebecca Keesby. |
| 0:10.1 | The next 24 hours in French politics could be critical. |
| 0:14.4 | Yesterday, the far-right, ressemblement national rally party of Marine Le Pen, |
| 0:19.7 | also known as the RN, came first in round one of the parliamentary elections with 33.1% of the |
| 0:26.5 | vote. That's the first time the far right has ever topped the poll. The Hard Left Coalition came second with 28% and President Macron's |
| 0:35.8 | Centerest alliance came in third with just over 20%. So what that means is that |
| 0:41.5 | as we come to air frantic negotiations are going on behind the |
| 0:46.0 | scenes as the leftist and centrist parties have to decide today which candidates to pitch against the national rally in the second round |
| 0:55.4 | this coming Sunday where possible they'll want to avoid splitting that anti-far right vote if they're |
| 1:01.9 | going to stop an all-out majority for the |
| 1:04.2 | national rally. But is it possible? We'll hear from our reporter in a moment. First, what |
| 1:08.5 | is clear is that the nation is divided. |
| 1:11.5 | The city, It's good. |
| 1:14.0 | It's good. |
| 1:15.0 | It's good. |
| 1:16.0 | I'm satisfied because we need change. |
| 1:18.0 | Things have not moved and they must move. |
| 1:21.0 | People have thought it out, and now this has to bring us something. We'll see |
| 1:25.6 | what the results are. Big words often come from big magicians. What will they |
| 1:30.8 | take out of their hat? Of course it shocks me. |
| 1:35.0 | I find it very sad because I don't think people realize what's happening. |
... |
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