The French government on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of far-right and radical Islamist groups, four days before the first round of crucial legislative elections that could see a surge in support for political extremism.
The surprise elections called by President Emmanuel Macron, a pro-business moderate, have plunged France into a rushed and chaotic campaign, with the prime minister and two other candidates holding a televised debate on Tuesday night, with immigration, France’s retirement age and taxes among the main issues.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced on Wednesday that the government had ordered the dissolution of several far-right and “radical Islamist” groups, after a series of dissolution orders cited the risk of violence.
Affected groups include the GUD, a group known for violence and anti-Semitism, whose members have supported far-right political leader Marine Le Pen in the past.
Le Pen’s National Rally party is leading all opinion polls ahead of two general elections on June 30 and July 7. Macron’s centrist coalition is far behind, but the outcome remains highly uncertain due to a complex two-stage voting system and potential political coalitions.
In a televised debate, Jordan Bardella, leader of the young and fast-growing National Rally party, reiterated proposals to abolish free healthcare for foreigners and to tighten regulations on obtaining French citizenship.
But his proposal to ban dual nationals from certain “strategic” civil service positions angered Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who said the proposal revealed the true intentions of a party long associated with xenophobia and racism.
“The message you are sending is that because we have dual or half nationality we are not really French,” Attal said.
Attal said Bardella has representatives from France and Russia who sit in the European Parliament on the foreign affairs committee that deals with security and defence issues, suggesting that the real targets of the measures are not dual nationals in senior public positions.
Mr. Bardella has softened many of his party’s hardline positions and found himself in a bind on another key issue: the retirement age, which Mr. Macron raised from 62 to 64 in a hotly contested reform last year that sparked months of protests and weakened his government.
National Rally supports lowering the retirement age to 62, but Mr Bardella said it would take 42 years of work to receive a full pension, effectively raising the retirement age for people who started working in their late 20s.
It will be France’s first time to elect a far-right government since the Nazi occupation during World War II, with opposition parties on both sides scrambling to forge alliances and field candidates.
President Macron called the elections earlier this month. This comes after his party suffered a major defeat to the far right in the European Parliament elections.
Eric Bompard, from the far-left New Coalition party, Unbowed France, also criticised Bardella’s economic policies and proposals to raise taxes on people under 30.
Bompard, citing economists, said the Rally National’s policies would further enrich the wealthy at the expense of the poorest 30 percent of the population, while Attal accused the 28-year-old Bardella of personally benefiting from them.
“Why should a 31-year-old worker pay tax but a 29-year-old consultant or trader not?” Attal asked.
