Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said her Rassemblement National party would seek to form a new French government even if it falls short of an outright majority, in a shift in position ahead of Sunday’s run-off vote.
Le Pen said that if the RN narrowly failed to secure a majority on its own, it would look for allies for parliamentary backing.
In last weekend’s first round, the RN inflicted a resounding defeat on President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist forces and is projected to come in first again on Sunday.
“We want to govern, to be extremely clear. And if we are a few deputies short of the majority,” Le Pen said on France Inter Radio on Tuesday. “We will go see others and say: ‘Are you ready to participate with us in a new majority with a new policy?’”
But, in an indication of the RN’s resolve to pursue its agenda, she said the party “could not accept going into government if we cannot act”.
Jordan Bardella, the party’s chief and candidate for prime minister, had previously said he would not govern without an absolute majority of the parliament’s 577 seats.
