Anti-racist groups joined French unions and a new left-wing coalition in protests everywhere France against the rise of the nationalist far right while a frenzied campaign is underway in the run-up to early legislative elections.
Around 21,000 police and gendarmes were deployed during the rallies on Saturday and authorities expect between 300,000 and 500,000 demonstrators across the country, the French Interior Ministry said.
In Paris, those who feared the elections would result in France’s first far-right government since World War II gathered at Place de la République before marching.
Crowds have been gathering daily in France since the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) scored a historic victory in last Sunday’s European elections. This prompted Macron to dissolve the National Assembly and call early legislative elections, which will be held in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.
A large crowd turned out on Saturday despite rainy and windy weather, holding signs reading “Liberty for all, Equality for all and Fraternity with all” – a reference to France’s national motto – as well as “ Let’s break down borders, documents for all, no to the immigration bill.
Speaking from Place de la République, far-left CGT union leader Sophie Binet told reporters: “We are protesting because we are extremely worried (RN leader) Jordan Bardella could become the next prime minister. .. We want to avoid this disaster.”
“Ideology based on fear”
Among the demonstrators in Paris, some also chanted “Free Palestine, viva Palestina” and wore Palestinian keffiyehs.
Among them was Nour Cekar, a 16-year-old high school student of French and Algerian parents who wears the hijab.
“For me, the far right is a danger because it supports an ideology based on fear of the other, while we are all French citizens despite our differences,” she said.
Cekar added that she would vote for the left-wing coalition because “it is the only political (entity) that tackles racism and Islamophobia.”
Meanwhile, in Nice on the French Riviera, protesters marched down Avenue Jean Médecin, the city’s main shopping street, chanting against the National Rally and its leader Bardella, 28, as well as against the President Emmanuel Macron.
Protest organizers said 3,000 people took part, while police put the number at 2,500.
Nice is traditionally a conservative bastion, but has resolutely turned, over the last decade, in favor of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and his far-right rival Eric Zemmour.
Nacira Guenif, a sociologist at Paris 8 University, called the rise of the far right a “very dangerous situation” and said many young people who participated in the rallies Saturday denounced “the fascists.”
“It’s a greater danger than ever. This is the first time that the far right has reached 30 percent of the vote in the European elections. The reason why young people and many people took to the streets today is to say that they do not want this to happen in France,” Guenif told Al Jazeera.
A huge gamble for Macron
Reporting from Paris, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler noted that the French president’s election announcement took everyone by surprise, including his own ministers.
“Macron says he called these elections because he heard the voice of the people, of the voters. He said he had attended the European elections and saw that people were unhappy with this government’s policies. So he says he gave the people the choice again.”
The move is a huge gamble, she said. “People are here to say that they fear the extreme right which would destroy the French values of rights, freedom and equality.”
To prevent the National Rally from winning the upcoming elections, left-wing parties finally agreed on Friday to put aside their differences over the wars in Gaza and Ukraine and form a coalition. They urged French citizens to defeat the far right.
French opinion polls suggest that the National Rally is expected to lead in the first round of the legislative elections. The party came top in last week’s European elections, winning more than 30 percent of the votes cast in France, almost twice as many votes as Macron’s Renaissance party.
Macron’s term lasts for three more years and he will retain control of foreign affairs and defense whatever the outcome. But his presidency would be weakened in the event of a National Rally victory, which could allow Bardella to become the next prime minister, with authority over domestic and economic affairs.
French voters will go to the polls first on June 30, then again on July 7.
