Candidates exit French runoff to block far right

PARIS: More than 200 centrist and left-wing candidates pulled out of France´s legislative election runoff ahead of a Tuesday deadline, in a move President Emmanuel Macron hopes will block the far right from winning power.

France votes on Sunday in the final round of snap legislative polls Macron called seeking a “clarification” in politics after his camp was trounced in European elections last month. His gamble backfired, with the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen winning the June 30 first round. But the key suspense now is whether the RN can get enough seats to form a government.

Faced with the prospect of the far right taking power for the first time since France´s occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II, Macron´s camp and the left have urged a broad “Republican Front” to stop Le Pen´s anti-immigration and eurosceptic party.

With the clock ticking to a deadline later Tuesday to register, over 200 pro-Macron or left-wing candidates had pulled out of contests to prevent the RN winning seats.

Le Pen appeared to row back on previous comments that the RN would only form a government with an absolute majority of 289 of the 577 seats in the National Assembly, saying it would still try if slightly below this figure.