French politicians work on alliance formulas after snap polls announcement over far-right surge in EU elections

ANKARA

French politicians started working on different formulas for the snap polls that the president announced Sunday over the far-right surge in the EU elections.

"This is not a good result for the parties that defend Europe, including the presidential majority (in France)," President Emmanuel Macron said in a broadcast speech after the far-right party National Rally (RN) got more than 30% of the votes in the EU elections.

Left-wing parties, including the Greens, the Socialist Party (PS), La France Insoumise, and the French Communist Party, on Monday united and announced a “popular front,” the broadcaster BFMTV reported. Those parties will start working on a program on Tuesday.

The far-right figure and former presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen from the National Rally said her party was ready to govern the country.

However, the RN must get 201 seats in the National Assembly -- the lower chamber of the parliament -- to secure the majority.

It started working on alliance options with other right-wing parties and figures, including Marion Marechal from the party Reconquete and officials of The Republicans party.

Marine Le Pen said on Monday that in case of an RN victory, the party president, Jordan Bardella, would be proposed as prime minister, and she would head for the presidential election -- as she has done three times since 2012, with no success.

President Macron is due to address a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

In Sunday's EU elections, Jordan Bardella was way ahead of the Renaissance party’s Valerie Hayer, backed by the government and the president.

The first round of the legislative elections will be held on June 30, and the second round on July 7.