France’s interior minister foresees violent tensions during snap polls on June 30

By Nur Asena Erturk

France’s interior minister said Monday he foresees tensions during the snap polls on June 30.

“It is possible that there could be extremely violent tensions (on the election night),” Gerald Darmanin told the French broadcaster RTL, and vowed that his ministry will do everything to maintain the order.

He also voiced a particular fear for the after-summer period, with two possibilities: either the far-right or the far-left wings would implement their "delusional" government programs, and this would provoke difficulties reflecting on the society, or else, they would abandon their programs, which would create tensions in the fall among the voters who would thus have been lied to, the minister said.

Darmanin also criticized the head of the far-right party National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, one of the candidates to lead the next government.

"He was never elected mayor, I do not think he has ever led an association or a company, I think we have here someone very inexperienced, and I do believe that there must be a little experience to govern a country like France," the minister said.

After the RN got more than 30% of the votes in the EU elections on June 9, French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged the defeat of his centrist alliance, dissolved the parliament, and announced snap elections.

Left- and right-wing parties started talks to form alliances on their respective sides.

The left-wing parties announced an alliance under the name "New Popular Front," however, the right wing faced a crisis over various formulas. Macron, for his part, called the "centrist, progressist, democratic, and republican" bloc to unite and counter those alliances, either before or after the elections.

The legislative elections will be held in two rounds: the first on June 30 and the second on July 7.