Kylian Mbappe, the star of the French national team and Real Madrid, described the results of the first round of early parliamentary elections in France as disastrous, he writes. guardianThe far-right National Pact party led by Marine Le Pen took 33 percent on Sunday. The broad left alliance came in second, with Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition third.
Mbappe, who played football with a broken nose at the European Championship, urged everyone to vote in the second round scheduled for Sunday to prevent Le Pen from coming to power. “We cannot let our country fall into the hands of these people. The situation is urgent. We have seen the results are catastrophic. We really hope that the situation will change, that everyone will come together, go to the polls and vote for the right party.”
This is not the first time Mbappé has spoken out against Le Pen's far-right party. Before the start of the European Championship, he said he was against extremism and divisive ideas and did not want to represent a country that did not align with its values. “We can all see that extremists are very close to taking power, but we have the opportunity to decide the future of our country. That's why I ask all young people to go and vote and understand the importance of the situation.”
Mbappé was not the only member of the French national team participating in the European Championship in Germany to speak out about the political situation in France. After the 1-0 victory over Belgium, Jules Condé also expressed his disappointment at the victory of a party that “wants to take away our freedom and the fact that we live together.” According to Condé, the only way to prevent the far right from coming to power is to convince those who stayed at home in the previous round to vote. Marcus Thuram called on the French to “fight every day” against the ever-increasing national collapse.
On June 9, President Emmanuel Macron announced, following the advance of the far-right National Pact party in the European Parliament elections, that he would call early parliamentary elections. Marine Le Pen’s party also won this, obtaining 33% of the vote last Sunday. In constituencies where no candidate exceeded 50%, a second round will be held. To prevent the National Pact from obtaining a majority in the 577-member National Assembly, the left-wing parties have been joining forces with each other. Macron’s intentions and the possible outcomes of early elections are analyzed in this article.
France will play Euro 2016 winners Portugal in the quarter-finals on Friday.
