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FRENCH EURO 2024 star Jules Kounde, who was awarded player of the match after his team secured a place in the quarter finals this evening, has said he was disappointed with the results of the first round of voting in France’s parliamentary elections.
Kounde called on voters in the country to block the far-right National Rally party from winning a majority in the snap parliamentary elections, ahead of the second round of voting next weekend.
The National Rally, a far-right, anti-immigrant, Eurosceptic party, came out on top in the first round of voting on Sunday with 33% of the vote, raising the prospect that they might take control of government.
Candidates in the running for the election must secure at least 12.5% of the vote from their constituencies to retain their place in the race in the first round.
The remaining candidates then go through into the second round. In France there is one seat per constituency and often three or four people are left in the race after the first round.
The candidates with the highest percentage of votes after the second round are then elected to the National Assembly.
The National Rally’s success has left the centrist camp of President Emmanuel Macron and a left-wing alliance scrambling to stop such an outcome.
📢 🔴 🇫🇷 Jules Koundé appelle à "faire barrage à l'extrême droite et au Rassemblement National:
— Flashinfo (@Realnews829984) July 1, 2024
« J’ai été déçu de voir quelle direction notre pays prend (…) il y a un deuxième tour ça sera important de faire barrage à l’extrême droite. »#EUROS2024 #France #koundé pic.twitter.com/NOhvL2S5UZ
“Obviously I was disappointed to see the direction our country is taking with a big level of support for a party that is against our values of unity and respect, and that wants to divide the French people,” Kounde, the 25-year-old Barcelona defender, said.
“But there is a second round to come, nothing is decided yet, and I think it will be important to block the far right and the National Rally,” he added.
“They will not lead our country to more liberty and unity. That is my position.”
The National Rally are keen to secure a majority in the parliament after the second round of voting.
But projections have shown that National Rally may not win an absolute majority, something the party’s president, 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, said would be necessary for him to take the role of prime minister.
Left-wing and centrist parties however are still attempting to form voting pacts ahead of next weekend’s vote in order to block the progression of the National Rally.
A hung parliament could be the result of the second round and would lead to at least a year of parliamentary stalemate as French law prohibits holding new elections until a year after the last vote.
Kounde, who had already expressed such a view on social media ahead of the first round, is one of several France players to have spoken out against the far-right during the tournament in Germany.
Marcus Thuram, captain Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouameni have also positioned themselves against extremist parties.
- © AFP 2024, with reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill and David MacRedmond.
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Can we be very clear here that AIB are talking about bonuses in respect of executives .. not the front line staff.. and yet again it will be the front line staff that will take all the flack the backlash and all the hurtful comments from the public when they are just trying to do their job .. believe me I know !
@Lance Chancer: are you one of the executives Lance
@kissmyarse: In all fairness, it sounds more like he is front line staff. Why would you think he is an executive if what he is saying is that it’s not fair that it’s the front line staff who get all the crap.
@Igot Noname: your a very clever boy
@kissmyarse: i’ll go all mad and assume you actually meant to write you’re and not your but at the same time i might not even be that clever and you meant i own a very clever boy
@Igot Noname:
Look I wish you well, i am not here to be nasty enjoy the rest of your evening
My Bonus at the end of the week is called my pay cheque … If i don’t meet my targets or preform well i risk loosing it…. So on top of their well paid jobs these greedy people want even more just to do their job…. Wow, i don’t know how the rest of us get out of bed with out the incentive of a big bonus. .
@Jamie Jj Tobin: My bonus is just receiving payment for my work in the Building Industry on most occasions we have to chase down the client to get some funds
@Jamie Jj Tobin: The best need to be well remunerated, that is an inconvenient fact. They can go to London, Paris or Frankfurt and earn multiples. We got screwed in the past with jobs for the boys, we are screwing ourselves now by ensuring none of the good ones will stay.
@Paul P O’Sullivan: if they could go to London or Paris and earn considerably more money, they would be well gone. This is a myth to perpetuate their greed and sense of entitlement. Better opportunities in Paris? Off you pop there kid.
@Ronan Sexton: They are mostly already gone. Your counter argument was so very predictable populist nonsense.
@Paul P O’Sullivan: I doubt those executives are gonna leave just so the Irish lads can take their jobs anytime soon.
@Paul P O’Sullivan: Well not lets hold back this wonderful talent then, let them gead off to pastures green!
Being a Bankster isn’t exactly rocket science contrary to the spin and spoofing we hear!
Bunch of barrowboys trying to figure out how they can screw even more from their “valued customers”
Give me a bucket!
@Paul P O’Sullivan: eh weren’t they all getting bonuses when they crashed the economy? Why does the strict low bonus culture work in Germany but won’t work here? Frankly, if what we are attracting is those that crashed the economy, those that are selling out families to vulture funds and those that masterminded the illegal overcharging scandals – let them go!
@Jarlath Murphy: Bankers will be redundant within then years, Digital money like cryptocurrencies are the future. Decentralized no Central banksters to print fiat money that loses its value on a daily basis Zero interest on deposits like at the moment where your money is losing value with inflation at 3% so your Euro on deposit is worth only 97 cent in a years time. If your bank becomes insolvent you as a depositor are on the hook for a bail in, to bail out the Banksters this law came in on the 1/1/2016. It makes no economic sense to have anything over day to day expenses in deposits in banks with zero interest rates and the risk of bail ins. Physical Gold and Silver, Cryptocurrencies, and commodities is where your money will at least hold its value and has every chance of making big gains into the future, all paper money ends up worthless in the end when inflation does what the central bankers want to devalue their paper money to lower the debt costs that at this point in time is totally out of control by Governments and personnel at 230 Trillion in USD terms The systematic failure of the 2008 crash was never seriously tackled the so called recovery was enabled by printing money out of thin air to buy bank and company junk bonds,and lowering interest rates to zero. The debt and bond markets are set to implode any day now and then the whole house of cards will collapse, and 2008 will seem like a walk in the park. Get out of fiat paper money or watch your wealth halved or at worst lose it all.
@Paul P O’Sullivan: let them go there. Second or third best will do fine. In fact its supposedly the ‘best’ that got us in debt for billions. We can’t afford ‘talent’ like that again. Lets have unambitious, reasonably competent people instead, for a fraction of the price.
As we are using the ridiculous term ‘bankers’ – which seems to mean everyone in financial services, how about we also ban ‘technies’ from getting bonuses too? They’re ‘all’ just harvesting our personal data without our knowing nor paying us for its use.
Is it beyond the wit of leaders and policy makers to devise a banking system that is run for the benefit of its customers and communities.
Evidently there are only two options????
1. Mega ego maniacs run it, taking risks with customers assets, and giving themselves huge bonuses if they show a paper profit at the end of a day, but fade away if they loose billions.
2. Civil service jobs for life crowd move in.
@DeFonz: Not every civil servants is on a permanent contract. Absorb that information and learn from it.
@Ciara Ni Mhurchu:
Correct me if I’m wrong but I understood that a person may well start out on a fixed term contract but the state would be obliged to give them permanent status after a number of years.
@P.J. Nolan: After 4 years of full-time employment they’re meant to offer a permanent position. That doesn’t mean after being on various temporary contracts that they can’t tell you there’s no work for you when your contact ends.
I’m a locum. Started as maternity cover, extended due to unpaid parental leave. Then offered a year contract which was extended by another year, ending on December 31st. My new contract might only be for a few months. I could be let go before the 4 years.
@Ciara Ni Mhurchu:
Much like the private sector then.
Welcome to the real world.
Let them these egotistical people got us into the bother on the premise that if you pay peanuts you get monkey’s ,well we paid well and what did we get
Leo gets paid extremely well even though he’s not qualified for the position & failed miserably with every single appointment & position held as a lowly minister. Didn’t himself & all his other cronies only recently get another large pay rise for nothing. Hypocrisy at its finest. As was pointed out previously- ordinary bank workers are not ‘bankers’. Big difference in every way but convenient to tar everyone in that industry with the same brush. In any case Bank of Ireland are not owned / controlled by the government so they’ll probably push ahead regardless as they announce redundancies galore over the next few years & Leo won’t do $hit.
In 2008 the consumer banking system was shown up to be what it is, a public service paid for by the tax payers. When the next financial crisis happens, tax payers will be there to rescue them and keep these employees in their jobs. Consumer banks that provide deposit guarantees should always remain in part public ownership, like the ESB. Irish semi state companies pay modest bonuses but not the extravagant banker style bonuses.
@Don:
And Irish semi states almost all make a loss.
@P.J. Nolan: a small loss is better than a catastrophically large one.
Bonuses is what created the Banksters mess!
Getting paid large suns for shuffling paper across their desks and giving loans to people unable to make repayments!
The only bonus they should get is not having to break stones while incarcerated!
@Don. We pay the highest electricity prices in Europe
Time to treat them as the criminals they are.
When I worked in sales we had “planned income”
We were paid 80% of salary on a monthly basis with the other 20% at risk unless we achieved 100% of target.
The “at risk” portion was paid every 3 months, so if we had any “duff” deals they were deducted from our performance v target.
I’d say, Bankers are The most “Un-Civil Servants”. As well as a combination of greed, fraudulent behavior, and incompetence
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