PARIS: A total of 250,000 people went to the streets in France on Saturday, including 75,000 in Paris, to protest against the far-right, according to the police.
The CGT (General Confederation of Labour) counted 640,000 people in 150 gatherings throughout the country, including 250,000 in Paris, Xinhua reported.
Nine people were arrested on the sidelines of the procession in Paris, and three police officers were slightly injured, according to the police.
The outgoing head of La France Insoumise (LFI) group in the National Assembly Mathilde Panot called on voters to mobilise in the legislative elections, on the sidelines of the Parisian demonstration.
“The choice that will be made on June 30 and July 7 with the ballots of our fellow citizens will be whether it is the extreme right, or it is us,“ she said.
Former French President Francois Hollande said that he would run for the legislative elections as a candidate in Correze.
“If I took this decision, it’s because I felt that the situation was serious, more than it has ever been… .
The extreme right has never been so close to power since the Liberation,“ he told the press in Tulle.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced last Sunday the dissolution of the National Assembly, following the defeat of his party in the 2024 European Parliament elections. Macron’s Renaissance party gained 14.6 per cent of the votes in the 2024 European Parliament elections, far behind the far-right National Rally which received 31.37 per cent.
According to the latest poll before the legislative elections on June 30 and July 7, the president’s Renaissance party would only collect 18 per cent of the votes in the first round, far behind the Popular Front, 28.5 per cent and the National Rally which would obtain 29.5 per cent of votes.
