French far right chief eyes majority, slams Mbappe

French far-right leader Jordan Bardella on Tuesday urged voters to give his alliance a clear majority in snap polls to be able to act unhampered as prime minister, while criticising footballer Kylian Mbappe for urging a vote against extremes.

The bloc of President Emmanuel Macron is currently trailing third in polls behind the far right and a new left-wing alliance and faces an uphill struggle to narrow the gap with less than two weeks before the first round.

"I need an absolute majority," Bardella, the 28-year-old leader of the far-right National Rally (RN) party, told CNews and Europe 1 broadcasters.

"I don't want to be the president's assistant," he said.

Macron, who lost his absolute majority in parliament in 2022, called for the legislative vote on June 30, with a second round on July 7, after the RN trounced his centrist alliance in European elections.

His risky gamble to gain a better hold over the lower chamber has caused the left and right to form eleventh-hour alliances with hardliners to garner more votes in the elections just weeks before Paris hosts the Olympics in July and August.

Bardella, whose party has aligned itself with part of the traditional right, is hoping to win enough seats to become the youngest ever leader of the French government.

Voters have a "historic opportunity to change the course of history", he said.

- 'Respect everyone's vote' -

The parliamentary elections are also turning politics upside down in the country, as eyes already turn to presidential polls in 2027 where Macron must stand down and RN figurehead Marine Le Pen scents her best chance for power.

According to the IFOP poll for the LCI TV channel, the RN would take 33 percent of the vote on June 30, the New Popular Front left-wing alliance 28 percent and Macron's ruling centrists just 18 percent.

But such an outcome would mean that the RN would be unlikely to win the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly.

But the chance that the far right could take power for the first time in France has set alarm bells ringing across the country, with football stars representing Les Bleus at Euro 2024 in Germany also weighing in.

Bardella said he admired the players, including the iconic Mbappe who urged France to vote against "extremes", but indicated that they should stay out of politics.

"You need to respect everyone's vote," he said. "I am not sure that in this very difficult period... that this is appreciated by people."

"And when you have the luck to have a huge salary, be a multimillionaire, the chance to travel in a private jet, I am a little annoyed to see these sports figures giving lessons to people who... struggle to make ends meet."

- 'Plague and cholera' -

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, 35, the youngest person to lead the country's government, urged voters to choose his party's candidates from the first round as the only "credible" alternative to keep the far right and hard left out of power.

He said the far right and hard left had programmes that would lead France "straight to bankruptcy" if they won.

Former minister Francois Bayrou, a key ally of the president, told another radio channel, Sud Radio, that the country faced two "menacing blocs" on either side on the political spectrum.

He said he would do all he could to fight two options he described as "the plague and cholera".

But in an interview with Le Monde, the former head of Macron's ruling party faction in parliament, Gilles Le Gendre, described the calling of snap polls by the president as an "insane decision that makes no sense".

Macron "took the unnecessary and dangerous risk that the latent political crisis that has been damaging our country for years will become a full-blown crisis," said Le Gendre.

Since calling the elections, Macron -- who is in power until 2027 -- has kept a low profile in the campaign, which is being led by the more popular Attal.

A video has gone viral of a voter on Monday telling Attal during a campaign stop: "You're okay, but you need to tell the president to keep his mouth shut."

Attal told Franceinfo that there were French who were "angry" or "unhappy with the dissolution" of parliament, but emphasised that Macron had been "elected until 2027".

Making a joint appearance on Tuesday at a ceremony, Macron was heard telling a group of schoolchildren out of earshot of the premier that Attal was "a bit like a little brother".

When the same group reported back the comment when Attal met them, the premier appeared visibly surprised. "He spoke to you about me?" he asked.

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