Demonstrators rallied in France against the far right on Saturday.
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Around 300,000 people took to the streets of France on Saturday, from Paris to Toulouse, urging voters to stop the country’s far-right party from winning a majority in upcoming parliamentary elections.
The election will be held in two phases, on June 30th and July 7th.
The protesters are demonstrating against far-right leaders Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, who have hardline views on immigration, following the historic rise of their National Rally party. European elections last weekend.
If the election goes in their favour, France will have its first far-right government since World War II.
In Paris, tens of thousands of people gathered at the Place de la Republique. The march took place through eastern Paris, where some 20,000 police officers were deployed in the city, according to the Associated Press. Many protesters took to the streets bearing anti-racism, pro-Palestinian messages.
In the city of Nice, where Le Pen has a large following, police said about 2,500 demonstrators gathered to protest against the far-right, according to the Associated Press.
Anti-far-right protesters gathered in Paris, France, on Saturday.
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Last weekend, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party Renew lost to Le Pen’s far-right party in the European Union parliamentary elections, with Macron’s party receiving 15% of the vote and Le Pen’s party receiving around 32%.
Macron responded by dissolving France’s parliament and calling early elections, in the hope of garnering stronger support for his remaining three years as president.
The move is seen as a big gamble: If the far-right wins a majority, Macron would effectively become a presidential candidate with a hostile parliament and prime minister.
Aiming to block the National Coalition Party from winning upcoming elections, left-wing parties on Friday set aside differences over Gaza and the war in Ukraine to form a coalition government.
France’s political landscape has been deeply divided since the collapse of mainstream right- and left-wing parties several years ago. This is part of a larger trend in Europe, where voters in the 27 countries gave big gains to far-right parties in recent EU elections.
