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President Emmanuel Macron took a big gamble by calling surprise elections in France.
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Macron risked losing what little power he had in the National Assembly to the French far-right bloc.
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Voters rebuked the far-right party on Sunday, but now no political party holds a majority.
French voters must rebuke the country’s far-right and anti-immigration National Rally Partybut a clear majority did not emerge on Sunday, leaving President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance further weakened and France on a path to political impasse.
Macron took a big gamble in June by calling surprise legislative elections shortly after the National Rally, France’s far-right bloc led by Marina LePendefeated the president’s centrist Renaissance party in Elections to the European Parliament with more than double the votes of his coalition.
The results pressured Macron to dissolve the National Assembly – France’s lower house that is most prominent in Parliament due to its ability to pass laws – and to make a big bet calling for early elections.
In doing so, Macron hoped voters would establish a stronger mandate in the lower house and strengthen his influence on the world stage. The president, whose popularity in France was already in decline, lost his majority in the National Assembly in 2022, leaving his coalition to pass laws without a vote in the lower house, using a controversial but legal constitutional tool.
The New York Times reported that Macron, without a majority in the lower house and relegated to political maneuvering, said his decision was inevitable.
But the plan backfired.
On June 30, the National Reunion Party again dealt a major blow to Macron’s Renaissance party and its allies, securing 33% of the vote in the first round, which saw a high turnout.
The New Popular Front, a left-wing coalition formed for the early elections, obtained 28% of the votes.
Macron’s centrist coalition received just 20%.
For a brief moment, France appeared to be looking at the first far-right government to emerge since the Nazi occupation, according to the Associated Press.
However, in Sunday’s second round of voting, the Times reported that a rise in support for the left-wing New Popular Front was projected in the near-final results to give it the most seats in the 577-member lower house, but not a majority. , citing France’s vote. voting institutes.
The leftist alliance is expected to secure between 177 seats, according to The Times.
Macron’s centrist coalition the Ensemble, which includes the Renaissance party, came second with a projected 148 seats, while the far-right National Rally came third with 142 seats.
Jean-Luc Mélenchonleader of the left-wing alliance, called the results an “immense relief for the majority of people in our country,” the AP reported.
While the results calmed immediate concerns among leftists and centrists about a far-right government, France may be heading towards political impasse without a clear majority established in the National Assembly.
Final results should be out late Sunday or Monday.
Read the original article at Business Insider
