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218 candidates withdraw ahead of second round of France’s snap parliamentary elections

They did this in favor of stronger candidates in a bid not to let Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally Party win the elections

© AP Photo/ Aurelien Morissard

PARIS, July 2. /TASS/. As many as 218 candidates have withdrawn from the election race ahead of the second round of early parliamentary elections, Le Monde reported.

They did this in favor of stronger candidates in a bid not to let Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally Party win the elections.

Candidates were supposed to confirm their withdrawal from the race by 6:00 p.m. local time on July 2.

France held the first round of its snap parliamentary election on June 30. The far-right party National Rally and its allies came first, receiving 33% of the vote. The leftist New Popular Front was second with 28%. The Together for the Republic presidential coalition garnered 20%. The second, deciding, round will be held on July 7.

French President Emmanuel Macron decided to dissolve the National Assembly on June 9 after his supporters had faced a crucial defeat in European Parliament elections. The last French president to dissolve parliament was Jacques Chirac in 1997.

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France Elections

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