Far-right leaders in France hint at electoral agreement negotiations with Les Républicains

Macron and Bardella, two leaders of France's far-right parties, have hinted that they are in talks with mainstream right parties to run candidates together in this month's snap general election.

After Emmanuel Macron's shocking decision to dissolve parliament on Sunday, political parties scrambled to make deals. To make matters worse, right leaders have asked Les Républicains (LR) to say if they will join forces with the National Rally (RN).

Any deal with the RN, which does not have enough people to run for every seat, would be a significant change for the opposition right. It also could split the LR, which came in fifth place in France's European election on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Bardella was asked if the RN was in talks with LR candidates. He said, "We will see." Wait longer.

Éric Ciotti, the head of LR, has said that the party will not work with the Horizons party of former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, a conservative party. He has not said anything about possible partnerships with the far right. The newspaper Le Figaro said that Ciotti was considering making a deal with the RN and would say something on Monday afternoon.

LR regional head in northern France, Xavier Bertrand, was angry that Ciotti did not vehemently reject Le Pen's call for a union. Bertrand said, "We owe our voters the truth." "The far right, Madame Le Pen, and other extreme right-wingers are never in the DNA of the Republican right." People from the LR should say now if they want to stand with the RN.

He also said, "From my point of view, it is clear: never the National Rally." "Not today, not tomorrow, and not the next day."

All parties have been running what the French media call a "national seduction" campaign since the election was announced. This is a race to find possible candidates before June 16, the limit for declaring. As of June 17, the official election campaign will begin. The two-round vote will happen on June 30 and July 7.

It is said that socialist, communist, and hard-left party leaders have come together to make a "popular front" with one candidate on the left. It is unclear if La France Insoumise (LFI) has joined the union or what role, if any, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the head of the party, would play.

Mélenchon was critical of his left-wing opponents in the European race, especially Raphaël Glucksmann, who was running for the Socialist Party (PS). Glucksmann's team stated that he would not join any coalition that had LFI in it. He said that there is not yet a written deal.

He said, "We are ready to govern," in his first interview since Sunday. In a "cohabitation" situation, where the president and government are not from the same party, he told French TV that the RN would focus on crime, immigrants, and the cost of living. This would stop the RN's yet-to-be-released show.

Macron was going to hold a press meeting on Tuesday afternoon, but he moved it to Wednesday instead. The White House said that until the election, the president would make three "election interventions" each week.

A poll by Harris Interactive found that the RN could get 34% of the vote, which would be a lot more than any left-wing group (22%), Macron's Renaissance (19%), or the LR (9%).