Paris, France – France is preparing to head to the polls again for a second round of voting for the National Assembly.
After his party’s defeat by the far right in the recent European Parliament vote, President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the parliament and called for two rounds of snap elections.
In the first, the far-right National Rally (RN) party emerged victorious with more than 29 percent of the vote.
Protests have again swept the country as demonstrators call for voters to turn out on Sunday against the party formerly known as the National Front.
In Paris on Wednesday, people marched from Place de la Republique to the National Rally’s headquarters in the French capital.
“The mood is quite high drama and intense,” said Philippe Marliere, professor of French and European politics at University College London. “It is a mood of mobilisation on the part of all those who don’t want National Rally to get a majority or even win the election.”
Macron’s Renaissance party won only about 20 percent of the vote in the first round. A coalition of left-wing parties, called the New Popular Front, scored higher with 28 percent. The coalition is intended to unite voters against the nationalist and anti-immigrant RN party, led by Marine Le Pen.
Danielle Barron moved to France from the United States more than 20 years ago, just after Jacques Chirac defeated Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine’s father, in a presidential run-off.
Her children were born in France, and the family became French citizens four years ago. Barron has been voting in France ever since.
United Arab Emirates Dirham Exchange Rate
