French PM calls for calm after attack on gov’t spokesperson

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal called for calm after Wednesday attack on the government spokesperson and parliamentary candidate Prisca Thevenot and her election team in southern Paris. "I have always called for calm and unity," the Prime Minister said in an election tour in Nievre, in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comte region, central-east France, on Thursday. "We can disagree, that's also the democracy," he said, stressing democracy cannot a cause of attacks and aggression. Attal said that he does not want to accuse anybody of standing behind the attack on Thevenot. "I am seeking appeasement. We are not going to point the finger at anybody," he said, adding that he only seeks "unity and fraternity". He considered that the assault on Thevenot an unbearable cowardice against the French people. On Wednesday, four unknown men attacked Thevenot and her team while hanging election posters in the city of Hauts-de-Seine, southwestern Paris where she is running for re-election in the legislative elections. In t he Meantime, the Directorate for French Nationals Abroad and Consular Administration announced that a record number of 460,000 French nationals abroad voted online in the second round of the elections. In the first round, 410,000 people voted online, compared to 250,000 in 2022 elections, added the Directorate. The far-right National Rally Party came first in the first round of France's snap parliamentary elections with 34 percent of the votes, according to preliminary election results. The leftist New Popular Front made a strong showing and came second with 28.5 percent of the votes. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Together Presidential Majority alliance incurred heavy losses coming third with 20.3 percent of the votes. Commenting on the results of the first round, Prime Minister Attal urged voters not to give the far-right National Rally party "a single vote" in the second round, scheduled on July 7. "The far right is at the gates of power," Attal said, warning that the party ris ked winning an absolute majority (289 seats). "Our objective is clear: to prevent the RN from getting elected in the second round." In a surprise move, President Macron dissolved the National Assembly and called for snap legislative elections on June 9 after the far-right National Rally significantly outperformed his centrist alliance in the European elections. Source: Kuwait News Agency