Protests against right-wing radicals took place in France

Thousands of people took to the streets in France last night to protest against the far-right shift in politics following a strong showing by Marine Le Pen's right-wing populist National Rally party.

In the first round of snap parliamentary elections, which took place on Sunday, June 30, the far-right National Rally party received 34.2% of the votes. Such dataciting an Ifop survey, publishes La Figaro.

According to the dpa news agency, several thousand people took part in protests across the country. In Paris, around eight thousand demonstrators, joined by leading left-wing politicians, gathered at the Place de la République. Protesters also took part in Nantes, Dijon, Lille and Marseille.

Protesters clashed with police in Lyon, France's third-largest city. Demonstrators erected makeshift barricades on the streets and began throwing bottles and firecrackers at police. Shop windows were smashed.

As Le Figaro reports, citing independent journalist Clement Lanotte, on Avenue Parmentier in Paris, protesters threw firecrackers at the police, who responded with tear gas grenades.

Some of the protesters writes France 24, climbed onto the monument in the center of the square, from where they waved the flags of Palestine and South Africa, as well as posters “against fascism” and against the “extreme right”. Several people left inscriptions on the monument using spray paint. Most of the demonstrators were young and chanted slogans like “fascists out.”

According to the results of yesterday's vote, only a small part of legislators will be finally elected. The first round is decisive only for candidates who receive more than 50% of the vote in constituencies with sufficient turnout, which is quite rare in practice. And the end result can be very different. In 2022, Macron won just over 25% of the vote in the first round, but ultimately won 42% of the seats – finishing first, although he lost his majority.

Turnout in this election reached a record 69%.

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