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Monday, July 1, 2024
French finance minister rules out endorsing radical left to stop far right
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French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire rules out calling on voters to choose a far-left candidate from the France Unbowed (LFI) party if that is the only realistic option to stop a candidate from the far-right National Rally (RN) party.
The RN scored historic gains to win the first round of France’s parliamentary election, but whether it can reach an absolute majority in the National Assembly will depend on days of alliance-building before next week’s run-off vote.
Leaders from the left and Macron’s centrist bloc said they would withdraw their own candidates in districts where another candidate was better placed to beat the far right.
“LFI is a danger for the nation,” Le Maire tells France Inter radio, adding that while he’d encourage voters to pick candidates from other left-wing parties in places where a centrist candidate pulled out of the race, he’d “never” call for voting LFI.
The Times of Israel Community.