Marine Le Pen says she will try to form a government even if she does not get an absolute majority

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Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said her Rassemblement National party would seek to form a new French government even if it fails to win a majority, a change of stance ahead of Sunday’s second round vote.

While centrists and leftists appear to be making progress in coordinating against the far right, Le Pen has said that if the RN cannot win a majority on its own, it will seek allies to gain parliamentary support.

In the first round last weekend, the RN inflicted a resounding defeat on President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist forces and is expected to continue to take first place on Sunday.

“We want to govern, to be absolutely clear. And if we are short of a few deputies to reach a majority,” Le Pen told France Inter Radio on Tuesday, “we will go to the others and say: ‘Are you ready to join us in a new majority with a new policy?’”

However, in a show of determination to pursue the RN’s agenda, she said the party “cannot accept being in government if we cannot act”.

Jordan Bardella, the party’s leader and prime ministerial candidate, had previously said he would not govern without an absolute majority in the 577-seat parliament.

In a bid to deprive the far-right of 289 seats, Macron’s coalition is working to eliminate some third-place candidates ahead of Sunday’s runoff, and the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) party has said it will eliminate all of its candidates.

Candidates must register by Tuesday night. According to Le Monde, 202 have dropped out so far, including 127 from left-wing parties and 75 from Macron’s centrist camp.

Le Pen She said she believed her party could find allies on both the left and the right, especially in the conservative Les Républicains party.

But it remains unclear whether she and Bardella will succeed. Éric Ciotti, then the leader of Les Républicains, sparked outrage and was forced out of the party last month when he teamed up with the RN.

The prospect of an RN government further cements the “normalization” of the far right in French politics. In recent years, Le Pen has pushed to eradicate more extreme and racist elements, including her father, who co-founded the movement in 1972.

But ahead of a surprise election this summer, the party has committed to fight a “culture war” against Islam, end birthright citizenship for people born in France to foreign parents and limit so-called “sensitive” government jobs to French citizens.

On Tuesday, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire wrote on X: “Let us stop beating around the bush: the RN is a danger to the Republic. It is outrageous that they question the loyalty of dual nationals. The end of birthright citizenship is an insult to our universalism.”

“Not a single vote should go to the Rassemblement National Party,” he added.

According to the final results of the first round on Sunday from the Ministry of the Interior, the RN bloc won 33 percent vote and the left-wing NFP party won 28 percent. Macron’s Ensemble coalition won 21 percent.

Pollsters believe a hung parliament or an absolute majority for the RN are the most likely outcomes. If the RN wins big, Macron could be forced into an uncomfortable power-sharing arrangement with the RN, known in France as “cohabitation.”

A Macron adviser said the president would likely give the RN the chance to form a government if it won around 250 or 260 seats – although the constitution does not require it to do so.

“They can find allies to get to 289,” the person said. “You don’t have to do that, but traditionally you have to propose to the majority.”