The French far right on Saturday (August 29, 2026) accused the left of seeking to “undermine civil peace” should Marine Le Pen win the Presidential election next spring, underscoring the increasingly confrontational tone of the campaign.

With less than eight months until the vote, far-right leader Le Pen, 58, remains the front-runner in the polls.

Analysts say the appeal of political extremes is growing in France, and recent surveys show that Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the divisive leader of hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), may have the best chance of reaching the run-off against Le Pen.

Speaking at an agricultural fair in the northeastern town of Chalons-en-Champagne, Jordan Bardella, President of Le Pen’s anti-immigrant, eurosceptic National Rally (RN) party and her choice for Prime Minister in the event of victory, said he was concerned by calls from the left for “civil disobedience” if the RN comes to power.

Mr. Bardella, 30, said they amounted to “an admission of weakness from the left, which hates democracy and is calling into question the fundamental principles of the rule of law and the electoral process”.

“The attitude of France Unbowed at the start of this campaign is deeply worrying,” said Mr. Bardella.

“They are already seeking to undermine civil peace in our country.”

Mathilde Panot, Parliamentary leader of France Unbowed, and Greens leader Marine Tondelier have recently said they would support “civil disobedience” in the event of an RN victory.

Some observers say the campaign is increasingly at risk of becoming a contest dominated by populist anti-establishment forces, raising concern among investors about the prospect of a run-off between the far right and the hard left.

Mr. Bardella said he was concerned about Melenchon’s “true intentions.”

During a first Presidential debate on Thursday (August 27), Melenchon, 75, vowed to “disobey” European decisions that contradict the wishes of French voters and pressed ahead with his proposals to cancel a chunk of France’s public debt.

“France Unbowed and Monsieur Melenchon do not want to win this Presidential election,” said Mr. Bardella

“They do not want to protect institutions, they want to destroy them.”

‘Risk to France’

Analysts say that a crowded field of candidates from the centre, centre left, centre right and right risks fragmenting the moderate vote in the first round, boosting the far right.

Bruno Retailleau of the right-wing Republicans (LR) said on Friday (August 28) he would not be dropping out of the race in favour of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who is seen as the best-positioned right-wing candidate to reach the run-off, or of any other candidate.

Mr. Retailleau said that some of his supporters said they would back the far right if he withdrew from the race.

A Le Pen victory would mark a turning point in modern French history, making her the first far-right leader to take power in France since World War II.

According to a survey published by Medef, the country’s main business lobby, this week, a majority of French business leaders are concerned about the impact that the next President’s economic policies could have on their companies, with 82% saying they were pessimistic.

Patrick Pouyanne, chief executive of energy giant TotalEnergies, said on Saturday he was worried about the country’s economy if the race were to end in a Le Pen-Melenchon run-off, arguing that both would “pose a risk to France”.

“I am concerned when I hear proposals that do not seem responsible to me, including when it comes to public finances,” he said.

Published – August 29, 2026 10:55 pm IST

French far-right chief Marine Le Pen’s political future remained uncertain on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) after a court cleared her to run but wearing an ankle tag, potentially hampering a campaign for next year’s presidential elections when her party has its strongest chance yet of winning power.

A lower court last year had sentenced Ms. Le Pen, 57, to a five-year ban from public office and a two-year sentence over a fake jobs scam at the European Parliament, threatening the three-time presidential candidate’s hopes to replace outgoing centrist President Emmanuel Macron.

The Paris appeals court found Ms. Le Pen guilty over the scam but reduced that sentence, banning her from office for 15 months as well as sentencing her to one year to be served with an electronic tag.

Dating from March 2025, the ban is expected to have expired this year, clearing the way in principle for her to run in polls set for April and May next year.

But she has said she may not run if the sentence prevents her from campaigning. “When you’re a presidential candidate, you need to be completely free to move around,” she said last week in a televised interview.

“I can’t depend on a magistrate to allow me to go to a rally.”

Mr. Le Pen, who left the court on Tuesday (July 7, 2026) with her head bowed, could still hand the candidacy to her 30-year-old lieutenant, Jordan Bardella, the leader of the National Rally (RN) party.

She is expected to announce her decision later.

Le Pen calls her conviction ‘political decision’, vows not to give up fight

‘Partially’ happy: lawyer

Her lawyer Rodolphe Bosselut said he was “partially” happy with the verdict.

“We note a considerable shift in the sentences, particularly with regards to the ban from office, which for us is an extremely important point,” he said.

The first trial found Ms. Le Pen — along with 24 former European lawmakers, assistants and accountants, as well as the anti-immigration party itself — guilty of operating a system from 2004 to 2016 to use European Parliament funds to employ RN staff in France.

Le Pen claimed her party was the victim of a “witch hunt”, and the judges received death threats.

Ms. Le Pen, the party and 10 others appealed.

Marine Le Pen | The persistent rise of a far-right populist  

During the appeal trial, she denied that the RN had a system to embezzle European Parliament funds, and has said her party acted in “complete good faith”.

But prosecutors allege that after she took over the party leadership in 2011 she “professionalised” a system to divert EU funds that was first introduced haphazardly by her late father, party co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen.

They had demanded the court maintain a five-year ban and sought a four-year term, with three years suspended.

‘Very intelligent’

Recent opinion polls have largely suggested the far right will lead in the first round of next year’s vote, but are divided on the outcome of the second round.

Many have shown slightly better results for Mr. Bardella than Ms. Le Pen, but their adversaries have inferred the veteran politician would be a fiercer opponent.

“This woman is very intelligent, she’s not here by chance. And if she does also run for a fourth time, she won’t be an opponent we can sneer at,” hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon has said.

An opinion poll in May suggested Ms. Le Pen could win the runoffs next year if she is allowed to compete.

The Harris Interactive Toluna survey of more than 1,700 registered voters projected her winning, against Mr. Melenchon as well as centrist former prime ministers Gabriel Attal and Edouard Philippe.

Other polls have, however, suggested Mr. Philippe — who is also courting right-wing voters — could win a runoff against the far right.

Published – July 07, 2026 07:47 pm IST

France’s President Emmanuel Macron leaves the polling booth prior to cast his vote in the first round of parliamentary elections at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France on June 30, 2024. A divided France is voting in high-stakes parliamentary elections that could see the anti-immigrant and eurosceptic party of Marine Le Pen sweep to power in a historic first. The candidates formally ended their frantic campaigns at midnight June 28, with political activity banned until the first round of voting.
| Photo Credit: AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron and his allies were on July 1 beginning a week of intense campaigning ahead of the second round of legislative elections to prevent the far-right from taking an absolute majority and control of government in a historic first.

The far-right National Rally (RN) party of Marine Le Pen won a resounding victory in the first round of the polls on June 30, with Mr. Macron’s centrists trailing in third behind a left-wing coalition.

But the key suspense ahead of the second round on July 7 was whether the RN would win an absolute majority in the new National Assembly, enabling it to form a government and make Ms. Le Pen’s protege Jordan Bardella, 28, Prime Minister.

Most projections published by French polling organisations showed the RN falling short of an absolute majority, but the final outcome remains far from certain.

A hung parliament could lead to months of political paralysis and chaos — just as Paris is preparing to host the Olympic Games this summer, and while France on the international stage takes a prime role in backing Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who is likely to be forced to resign after the second round, warned that the far-right was now at the “gates of power”.

The RN should not get a “single vote” in the second round, he said.

“We have seven days to spare France from catastrophe,” said Raphael Glucksmann, a key figure in the left-wing alliance.

‘Thrown under a bus’

The RN garnered 33% of the vote, compared to 28% for the left-wing New Popular Front alliance, and more than 20% for Mr. Macron’s centrist camp, according to preliminary results.

But with less than 100 seats being decided outright in the first round, the final composition of the 577-seat National Assembly will only be clear after the second phase.

The second round will see a three-way or two-way run-off in the remainder of the seats to be decided, with Mr. Macron’s camp hoping that tactical voting will prevent the RN winning the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority.

The French stock market, which had been under considerable pressure in June amid the political uncertainty, also rallied in early trading on hopes the RN would not win an absolute majority.

Mr. Macron in a written statement urged a “broad” coalition against the far-right in the second round, amid controversy among supporters over whether they should tactically vote for the left where needed in the second round.

Late on Sunday, the police said some 8,000 left-wing supporters thronged the Place de la Republique in central Paris to denounce the prospect of the far right taking power.

Risk analysis firm Eurasia Group said the RN now looked “likely” to fall short of an absolute majority.

France was facing “at least 12 months with a rancorously blocked National Assembly and — at best — a technocratic government of ‘national unity’ with limited capacity to govern”, it added.

The left-leaning newspaper Liberation in an editorial called on Macron to remove all his alliance’s candidates from districts when they had arrived in third place to give the left-wing alliance a chance.

“The head of State has thrown France under the bus. The bus has continued its course unimpeded, and is now parked in front of the gates of Matignon”, the prime minister’s office, it said.

‘Prime Minister of all French’

The arrival of the anti-immigration and eurosceptic RN in government would be a turning point in French modern history: the first time a far-right force has taken power in the country since World War II, when it was occupied by Nazi Germany.

Mr. Bardella said he wanted to be the “prime minister of all French”.

This would create a tense period of “cohabitation” with Mr. Macron, who has vowed to serve out his term until 2027.

Mr. Bardella has said he will only form a government if the RN wins an absolute majority in the elections.

Rancour remained over Mr. Macron’s decision to call the election in the first place, a move he took with only a tight circle of advisers in the hours after his party was trounced by the RN in European elections this month.

The chaos risks damaging the international credibility of Mr. Macron, regarded by some as the European Union’s number-one leader and who immediately after the second round will attend the NATO summit in Washington.

The right-wing Le Figaro in its editorial lamented a “disaster” brought about by the “unfathomable lightness of a man, through narcissist rancour, took the risk of plunging his country into chaos”.