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At least 150 marches are expected in cities including Marseille, Toulouse, Lyon and Lille.
PARIS, France – Demonstrations broke out in Paris and cities across France on Saturday, June 15, to protest against the upcoming far-right National Rally (RN). election To the French Parliament.
Following the National Party’s surge in last Sunday’s European elections, police said 21,000 officers were deployed as 350,000 people were expected to take part in the march after unions, student groups and human rights organisations called for a rally against the anti-immigrant, eurosceptic party.
At least 150 marches are expected in cities including Marseille, Toulouse, Lyon and Lille.
In Paris, up to 100,000 people are expected to take part in the march, which starts at 12:00 GMT in the east from Place de la République and passes through Place de la Bastille to Place de la Nation.
“We are marching because we are very worried that (Nationalist Party leader) Jordan Bardella could become the next prime minister… We want to prevent this disaster from happening,” Sophie Binet, leader of the far-left CGT union, told reporters at Place de la République.
Carol-Ann Juste, a 22-year-old student who marched in Paris and said it was her first time attending a protest, said she was “worried because people believe the lies of this party that has a real racist tradition,” referring to the National Front, the predecessor of the National Party, whose leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has been fined for making statements deemed anti-Semitic or xenophobic.
Juster said she wanted to “fight to preserve a country of human rights, freedom and tolerance.”
The next government
At the same march, Cecilia Lormeau, a 34-year-old teacher, said she planned to vote for the Popular Front, a coalition of leftist parties. “It’s important to show that we are mobilized and that the Popular Front is not the majority of the people,” she said.
President Emmanuel Macron After his centrist coalition was defeated by the RN in last Sunday’s European Parliament elections, he announced early legislative elections in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.
The first opinion polls predict that the National Front is likely to win the election and form the next government.
A Le Point magazine poll published on Friday predicted the National Front would lead in the first round of parliamentary elections with 29.5 percent of the vote, slightly ahead of the Popular Front’s 28.5 percent.
Macron’s centrist camp has a support rate of 18%.
At least two opinion polls have the Left Front close behind the National Front and ahead of Macron’s team.
In Tours, western France, hundreds of protesters took part in a march with a banner reading: “For freedom, for rights, for a social democratic republic, against extreme right-wing ideas, against racism.”
Several banners read: “Young people hate the National Front (predecessor of the RN)”, while one pensioner held a banner that read: “Old people hate the RN too.” – Rappler.com
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