2LT International News

PARIS, France: After failing to win a majority in last year’s snap legislative election, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said her party’s victory had only been postponed. Fifteen months later, with France stuck in political turmoil, Le Pen and her National Rally (RN) believe their time may finally be coming.

President Emmanuel Macron is struggling to keep control and avoid another vote, while frustration among French citizens continues to grow.

The RN has stayed on the sidelines as Macron’s government faces crisis after crisis. This distance has helped the party attract unhappy voters who feel ignored by mainstream politicians. A new OpinionWay poll for the CNEWS channel shows that about 35 percent of French people would vote for the RN in the first round of a possible election, 10 points ahead of a united left-wing alliance if it were to come together again.

Although this is not a massive jump from the RN’s numbers before the 2024 election, the party is confident it could win or come close to a majority if a new vote is called. Many of the political alliances that blocked the RN last year have since fallen apart. The left-wing coalition between the Socialists and France Unbowed has broken down, while the centrist and conservative “common platform” is barely functioning.

Macron plans to appoint a new prime minister this week, but experts say his government could still collapse soon. That might push him to dissolve parliament and call new elections—something Le Pen has been demanding for months.

Le Pen has said the RN will not try to take the prime minister’s post unless it wins or comes close to a majority. In that case, it hopes to attract support from lawmakers in the conservative Republicans Party. The RN has also worked hard to clean up its image, avoiding candidates with racist or antisemitic views that hurt its chances last time.

“The goal is to win a majority, convince the French, and show that our ideas can quickly make a difference,” RN lawmaker Julien Odoul told Reuters.

Once known mainly for racism and extremism, the RN has slowly gained legitimacy since Le Pen began reshaping it in 2017. Despite her party’s progress, Le Pen faces serious trouble: In March, she was convicted of embezzlement and banned from holding office for five years. Her appeal will be heard in January, and a verdict is expected by summer.

If the ban is upheld, Le Pen cannot run in the 2027 presidential election. In that case, her protégé, 30-year-old party president Jordan Bardella, is expected to run instead. Bardella, the son of Italian immigrants, has helped modernize the RN’s image and win over younger, working-class voters struggling with inflation and insecurity.

Recent polls show Bardella is even slightly more popular than Le Pen. If he becomes prime minister, he has promised to tighten immigration rules, strengthen borders, and impose harsher prison sentences.