Protests in France Demonstrations against Le Pen's election victory degenerate into riots
No pasarán! They will not pass, chant thousands of people in Paris, the old battle cry from the Spanish Civil War. The election victory of the right-wing nationalist alliance Le Pen is dividing the French.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- On Sunday, Marine Le Pen's right-wing nationalist alliance Rassemblement National (RN) won 29.2 percent of the vote in the first round of the early parliamentary elections, making it the strongest force for the first time.
- The left-wing alliance came in second with just under 28%. President Emmanuel Macron's camp only received around 20 percent. He had hoped until the end to turn the mood in the country around with new elections.
- The election result has divided the French. On Sunday evening, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to protest against Le Pen's right-wing alliance.
French President Macron had hoped to turn the mood in the country around with early elections. But the plan did not work out. The right-wing nationalists around Le Pen are clearly ahead after the first round of the parliamentary elections.
Macron has now called on the parties to unite against Le Pen's right-wing nationalist alliance in the second round of voting next Sunday. The final distribution of seats will depend heavily on whether the parties form local alliances and withdraw candidates in order to prevent Le Pen's victory at the last moment.
There were serious protests in numerous cities in France on Sunday evening, with clashes between demonstrators and the police, some of them violent. You can see the pictures in the blue News video.
