French General Election, Far-Right Party Falls to 3rd Place but... "Strategic Flexibility on Tax and Price Issues"

RN Falls to 3rd Place in French General Election
Exit Poll Results Released
Significant Increase in Seats Compared to Two Years Ago

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

In the runoff of the French legislative election, exit polls released on the 7th (local time) indicated that the far-right party Rassemblement National (RN) would fall to third place, but analysts are noting that the 'far-right surge' is significant. The RN's projected seat count of 132 to 153 represents a 48 to 72% increase compared to the 89 seats won in the legislative election two years ago.

On the 8th, Kim Heung-jong, former president of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, appeared on the program 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility is Difficult News Factory' and said, "European far-right parties nowadays do not only emphasize leaving the European Union (EU) or anti-immigration to become mainstream. They are flexibly responding by making economic policies, taxes, and inflation issues, such as 'Macron failed to control inflation' and 'We will reduce value-added tax'."

He added, "They are different from the old far-right. Through welfare chauvinism (exclusive patriotism), even when providing welfare, the far-right's banner is gradually changing to 'let's do it only among ourselves.'"

Kim also mentioned, "The UK Reform Party secured seats in areas with high immigration from the southeast," and said, "European far-right parties are learning from each other's strategies, becoming more flexible and softer, which is causing voters to start getting confused." He predicted, "If the far-right parties spread, EU expansion will not happen, and efforts to transfer power to supranational organizations will become more difficult."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, AFP news agency cited exit polls by the polling firm Ipsos on the 7th (local time), reporting that the left-wing coalition New People's Front (NPF) is expected to secure 172 to 192 seats, becoming the largest party.

The Renaissance party alliance 'Ensemble (ENS)' led by President Macron is projected to win 150 to 170 seats, while the far-right Rassemblement National (RN), led by Marine Le Pen, who ranked first in the first round of the legislative election, fell to third place with 132 to 152 seats. Earlier, on the 4th, the far-right UK Reform Party, led by Nigel Farage, known as the 'British Trump,' secured 5 seats in the UK general election, entering parliament for the first time in history.

The French Rassemblement National's election pledges include tax cuts in the energy sector, withdrawal of pension reforms, restrictions on immigrants, and deportation of illegal residents. The UK Reform Party's main platforms are tax cuts, opposition to carbon neutrality policies, and opposition to immigrant inflows.

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