Hamburg: Football star Kylian Mbappe has called the first round of French elections “catastrophic” after last Sunday’s results saw the country lurch towards the far-right, with anti-immigration party National Rally (RN) leading first place. The France national football team captain urged the French public to vote, saying “now more than ever” it was needed.
“There’s an emergency. We can’t let our country fall into the hands of these people; it’s really urgent,” Mbappe said at a media conference in Hamburg. President Emmanuel Macron’s shock announcement in June to call snap presidential elections plunged France into political uncertainty. tainty and has roiled financial markets, with the far right having a shot at real political power.
“We really hope that it’ll change and that everyone will mobilize to vote and make the right choice,” said the RN. After a high turnout at the France captain. polls last Sunday, the RN clinched 33.15 percent of the vote, while the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) coalition came in second and President Emmanuel Macron’s party slumped to third.
If the RN assumes power, it would become the first far-right party to enter the French government since World War II, although nothing is certain ahead of Sunday’s second round. The second round will be on Sunday, and Mbappe hopes “everyone will mobilize to vote.” This isn’t the first time that Mbappe has spoken about French politics while he’s been with the French national football team at Euro 2024.
“This is a never-seen-fore event,” France’s tal-isman told reporters last month. “And that is why I want to talk to the whole of the French people, but also the youth. “We are a generation that can make a difference. We see the extremes knocking on the door of power, and we have the opportunity to shape our country’s future. Mbappe, whose family originally came from Algeria and Cameroon, stressed that he didn’t want to “represent a country” that didn’t embody his “values.”
Earlier this week, Mbappe’s Les Bleus teammate Jules Kounde, a 25-year-old French Beninese national, used a media conference during the Euros tournament to share what he called his own “political position.” “I was disappointed to see the direction France is taking, with strong support for a party against our values… It’s important to block the extreme right, the National Rally, because this party will not lead our country towards more freedom,” Kounde said on July 1.