The French Interior Ministry said it would deploy 21,000 police and gendarmes to protests across the country.
 "French protesters rise up to far right ahead of general elections")
Anti-racism groups joined French trade unions and a new left-wing coalition in protests in Paris and across France. Photo: Wikimedia Commons AP Paris
In a frenzy ahead of surprise parliamentary elections, anti-racism groups joined France's trade unions and a new left-wing coalition to protest in Paris and across France on Saturday against rising far-right nationalist forces.
In Paris, people concerned that the election will bring to power France's first far-right government since World War II are due to assemble at Place de la Republique before marching through eastern Paris.
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The French Interior Ministry said it expected between 300,000 and 500,000 protesters to gather across the country and that 21,000 police and gendarmes would be deployed to protests across the country.
In the French Riviera city of Nice, protesters marched down the city's main shopping street, Rue Jean Moudessin. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said he heard chants of slogans against the National Rally, its leader Jordan Bardella and President Emmanuel Macron.
Protest organizers said 3,000 people took part, but police put the number at 2,500.
Nice is traditionally a conservative stronghold but over the past decade it has swung squarely in favour of Marine Le Pen's National Rally and her far-right rival Eric Zemmour.
Related article: France enters election mode after far-right wins European elections
Crowds have gathered every day since the anti-immigration National Rally made historic gains in Sunday's European elections, crushing President Macron's pro-business moderates and forcing the dissolution of the National Assembly.
The lower house elections will be held in two stages, on June 30 and July 7. Macron will be in charge of foreign and defense policy as president until 2027, but if the National Rally wins and takes control of government and domestic policy, his presidency will be weakened.
“We need a rise in democracy and society, otherwise the far right will come to power,” France's trade unions said in a statement on Friday. “Our republic and our democracy are in danger.”
They noted that far-right leaders in Europe and around the world have passed laws that disadvantage women, the LGBTQ+ community and people of color.
Related article: French left vows to index wages to inflation, lower retirement age
To prevent the National Rally party from winning upcoming elections, left-wing parties finally agreed on Friday to put aside differences over Gaza and the war in Ukraine to form a coalition government. They called on French people to defeat the far-right.
French opinion polls suggest the National Rally, whose founder has been repeatedly convicted of racism and anti-Semitism, is expected to take the lead in the first round of parliamentary elections. The party topped the European elections, winning more than 30% of the French vote, nearly double the number won by Macron's Renaissance party.
Macron still has three years left in his term and will retain foreign and defence powers regardless of the outcome of France's parliamentary elections.
But a National Coalition victory could weaken his presidency and mean the party's 28-year-old leader, Bardella, could become the next prime minister with powers over domestic and economic issues.
