They’ve put aside their differences with one goal in mind: to keep the far right firmly away from the 289 seats required for an absolute majority currently within their reach. By Tuesday, as the deadline to drop out closed, fewer than 100 remain, after centrist and left-wing candidates strategically dropped out in individual seats. This tactic could stop some RN candidates from winning, according to analyst Antoine Bristielle. Macron’s Ensemble allies also called on their supporters to prevent the far right taking office, but some warned against lending their votes to the hard-left France Unbowed, a party inside the NFP. “I’ve taken the difficult decision to withdraw … leaving it up to my voters to position themselves against the far right or far left,” Samuel Deguara, a candidate from Macron’s camp said after withdrawing.

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Persons: Emmanuel Macron’s, They’ve, Antoine Bristielle, Nathan Laine, ” Bristielle, Leslie Mortreux, Gérald Darmanin, Bruno Le Maire, “ I’ve, ” Samuel Deguara, Pen, ” Le Pen, Perpignan Louis Aliot, Dimitar Dilkoff, Jordan Bardella Organizations: CNN, Republique, Bloomberg, Getty, National, NFP –, NFP, Macron’s, France Unbowed, . Finance, …, Rassemblement National, Perpignan Locations: Antoine Bristielle ., Paris, France, AFP