With all 577 seats in France’s lower house already allocated, the leftist New Popular Front (NFP), made up of socialists, communists, environmentalists and the more radical La France Insoumise (LFI), came out on top with 182 seats, plus 13 left-wing independents, according to official data from the Ministry of the Interior.
The left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) thus broke all predictions and polls and came out on top in the second round of the legislative elections, overtaking the far-right National Rally (RN), which had emerged victorious in the first round.
Neverthelessno force has, at the moment, obtained an absolute majority in the National Assembly (289 seats).
The so-called “republican front” promoted by the NFP and, to a lesser extent, by Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party has fulfilled its commitment to curb the far right, despite the fact that polls prior to the election gave the advantage to RN.
According to confirmed official data, the Macronist bloc, made up of three parties, lost its majority by being left with 168 deputies, with a significant drop compared to the 250 it had, but much less pronounced than the first round predicted.
Third place goes to the far-right National Rally (RN), which was the big favourite after its victory in the first round and the forecasts of the polls published up to Friday, but which ended up with 143 seats.
The conservative Les Républicains (LR) is holding on, despite some defections to the RN, and has won 45 seats, to which it could add another 15 right-wing independents.
02:35Voter turnout was 67%, the highest in several decades, a rate well above the 38.1% achieved at the same time in the second round of the 2022 legislative elections.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the NFP, reacted immediately to the first estimates, released after the polls closed, and called on President Emmanuel Macron to put the left in charge of the government.
The left-wing leader said that the head of government must be from the New Popular Front, the left-wing coalition that his party, La France Insoumise, formed with socialists, communists and environmentalists.
“And he must implement his programme and only his programme,” stressed Mélenchon, who ruled out negotiations with Macron’s coalition.
The Socialist Party (PS) said the left would not tolerate any “coalition of opponents that would betray the French vote and prolong Macronist policies.”
“France deserved more than the alternative between neoliberalism and fascism,” said Secretary General Olivier Faure.
Surprise: the far right falls
President Emmanuel Macron decided to dissolve the National Assembly and call for legislative elections after the poor results of his party in the European elections of June 9, in which Le Pen and his party emerged victorious, and for this second legislative round already He was preparing for a possible cohabitation, a political scenario in which, having lost the legislative elections, the president is forced to appoint a prime minister from the opposition side, as Melenchón demands.
The first round of the legislative elections, held on Sunday 30 June, saw the three major political forces prevail: the far right, the left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NFP), which gathered 28% of the votes, and the presidential force, with a result of 21% of the votes and which only secured two deputies in the first round.
Although Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella’s party, which won 89 seats in 2022 and won by a wide margin in the first round on June 30 (33.15%), made progress compared to two years ago, estimates for the second round show a defeat, going from first place in the first round to third now.
Jordan Bardella, president of French far-right party National Rally (RN), leaves the stage after his speech following the estimates of the second round of the French snap parliamentary elections in Paris, France, July 7, 2024. REUTERS – Sarah Meyssonnier
The figures come as a surprise after the far-right won by a landslide in the first round, with 33% of the votes, and was still ahead in the polls and in the latest seat projections that were released up to Friday, the last day of the campaign.
Bardella also reacted to the estimates and accused the French president on Sunday of leaving the country “in the arms of the extreme left of (Jean Luc) Mélenchon.”
05:03For its part, Le Pen claimed that RN had only lost because of a tactical vote between the NFP and Macron’s camp.
“Our victory has simply been delayed,” he told television channel TF1.
Without absolute majority
No force has achieved an absolute majority in the National Assembly (289 seats).
“No bloc has a sufficient majority,” said former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (2017-20) after polls showed a victory for the left, far from an absolute majority and with a slight advantage over the far right and the Macronists.
Philippe accuses Macron of putting the country in danger with the dissolution of the National Assembly and called for a “provisional” government that would include neither the far right of Marine Le Pen nor the far left of Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
“We need to form a provisional government that will not last long, but that will allow the country to be managed,” he said.
Attal announces his resignation and Macron considers his next steps
At around 19 GMT, an hour after the polls closed, the French presidency issued a statement saying that Macron was analysing the day’s data and would wait for the structure of the new parliament to be consolidated before making any decisions.
“The President, as guarantor of our institutions, will respect the choice of the French people,” the statement added.
This was followed by a statement by the French Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, who announced that he will submit his resignation to Macron on Monday morning and added that he will carry out his duties as long as necessary.
07:00“Our country is facing an unprecedented political situation and is preparing to welcome the world in a few weeks,” Attal said, referring to the Paris Olympics that begin on July 26.
“I will therefore obviously assume my duties for as long as duty requires,” he added in an official statement.
For analyst and economist Marchel Alexandrovich, “Overall, Emmanuel Macron’s risky gamble has not resulted in a clear parliamentary majority. He now finds himself in the same situation as before, where his party has no support to push through ambitious legislative proposals.”
“This unstable situation will now be the new normal until the summer of 2025, as the Constitution prohibits the president from dissolving parliament again before a year has passed,” he added.
Source: Agencies
