Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has criticized the ongoing legislative elections in France, stating that they "do not resemble a democracy."
Undermine Democratic Principles
According to Ziare in an interview published Sunday on the Telegram channel of state television journalist Pavel Zarubin, Lavrov expressed his concerns about the second round of the elections, claiming it was designed to manipulate the will of voters as expressed in the first round.
Lavrov pointed out that some candidates are withdrawing their candidacies for the second round, a move he suggests undermines democratic principles.
He emphasized that true democracy should reflect the direct will of the public, and implied that the French electoral process does not meet this standard.
Electing 501 Deputies
Lavrov argued that significant changes would occur in France if the results of the first round were used as the basis for forming the parliament.
Today, Sunday, French voters are electing 501 deputies, following the election of 76 deputies in the first round, who secured over 50% of the vote in their constituencies.
Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) is favored to win according to all opinion polls, though it remains far from achieving an absolute majority of 289 seats.
