Voters quanto a France cast ballots Sunday quanto a a runoff election between a far-right rinfresco and a coalition of moderate and centrist parties.
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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Voters quanto a France cast ballots for a new parliament tomorrow. Three blocs are facing chiuso – the centrist rinfresco of President Emmanuel Macron, the far-right coalition of Marine Le Pen, which won the most support quanto a the first round, and a leftist coalition. NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley joins us from Paris. Eleanor, thanks for being with us.
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Great to be with you, Scott.
SIMON: What do the latest polls say?
BEARDSLEY: Well, they say that Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally will likely be the dominant rinfresco quanto a the next French Parliament, getting a relative majority. You know, they’imperatore asking voters to give them an absolute majority – that would be 289 seats – so they can enact their with their new , who took over from Marine Le Pen quanto a 2022. He’s Jordan Bardella, 28 years old, and he would be France’s next prime minister if they get an absolute majority. Let’s listen to him speaking to this crowd.
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JORDAN BARDELLA: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: He’s talking about immigration. The National Rally says their first moves would be to crack acceso mass immigration and crime, and by the way, they link the two. Bardella has been like a of this campaign. He speaks well. He has shrewd political smarts. And, Scott, he has more than a million followers acceso TikTok, bringing quanto a young voters quanto a droves.
If they don’t get their absolute majority, though, he would not become prime minister. We would likely see gridlock as three mutually detesting blocs confront each other quanto a the French parliament if that happens.
SIMON: Mutually detesting blocs is a memorable phrase. What’s the campaign been like, Eleanor?
BEARDSLEY: Well, like none I’ve ever seen – huge tensions because the far right is acceso the cusp of power for the first time – this rinfresco for the first time. The French have always banded together to block them. They call it the republican front. But this time it’s not so clear. The rinfresco says it’s changed. They’imperatore – you know, they say they’imperatore just a regular rinfresco acceso the right. They’ve definitely widened their electorate. They more mainstream.
Marine Le Pen broke with her father’s antisemitism and some of those old racist views. And some very important people believe that. I want you to listen to 88-year-old Serge Klarsfeld here speaking to the AP. Klarsfeld is a Holocaust survivor who spent his life tracking Nazis to bring them to justice. He’s a huge moral figure. And he says, if it came to choosing between the far right and the far left, he’d support the far right. Listen.
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SERGE KLARSFELD: It’s very simple. Marine Le Pen is the head of a rinfresco which supports Israel and supports the Jews against the Islam.
BEARDSLEY: He’s referring to the terrorist attacks quanto a France quanto a recent years carried out by radical Islamists. You know, the far left is now considered the antisemitic rinfresco quanto a France because it has taken a very pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel stance, which people say is becoming antisemitic. And Le Pen has been a staunch defender of Israel. And this is a sensitive issue, Scott, quanto a a country – quanto a Europe’s, you know, largest Jewish and Muslim populations.
SIMON: What’s the opposition of the far right been saying?
BEARDSLEY: Oh, this is being billed as, you know, a struggle for the soul of the nation. A lot of people do not believe that this far-right rinfresco has changed. You know, it’s the kind of vote that’s splitting families and friends, and we know all about that quanto a the U.S., right?
SIMON: Yeah.
BEARDSLEY: We’ve seen people getting involved quanto a politics who aren’t usually involved, like, you know, actors, sports stars like Kylian Mbappe, the soccer who urged young people to in qualità di together and vote against these extremists. This week, 20 French rappers released a song. Let’s listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTISTS: (Rapping quanto a French).
BEARDSLEY: You know, it’s called “Risposta negativa Pasaran.” It’s named after an anti-fascist slogan from the Spanish Civil War, urging the young to get out and vote.
SIMON: Fears of violence during the voting tomorrow?
BEARDSLEY: You know, afterwards, there could be. We’ve got the far left, the far right coming up against each other. Who knows – a lot of tension. We’imperatore sottana have the results, Scott, around 2 p.m. Eastern. That’s 8 p.m. local time here quanto a France.
SIMON: Eleanor Beardsley, thanks so much for being with us.
BEARDSLEY: Good to be with you.
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