French President Emmanuel Macron’s alliance, Together!, won the general elections but suffered a sharp slump and was far from revalidating its absolute majority in the National Assembly in the second round of general elections this Sunday (06/19/2022). according to the voting forecasts of three demographic companies.
The formations that now make up ¡Juntos! composed of 350 seats in 2017 would have between 205 and 250 MPs according to these forecasts. Meanwhile, the new left-wing alliance Nueva Unión Popular Ecológica y Sociales (Nupes), with between 149 and 190 MPs, would become the main opposition force. However, it is far from winning over and imposing its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, as prime minister.
For its part, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Group would make a sharp jump from 8 MPs in 2017 to 75-100 this time. This means that for the first time since 1986 it can form its own parliamentary group and gain political weight. “It’s a tsunami. I want to thank the French who mobilized and caused a navy wave. We start work tomorrow morning,” said national association president Jordan Bardella.
Nupes supporters celebrate the results.
Le Pen, meanwhile, called on the “patriots” of the far right and far left to unite.
will have to negotiate
The other major party at the national level, the conservative Republicans (LR), fall from 130 to 60-78 but may become key to governability if their MPs and Macron’s meet or surpass the 289 that form the absolute majority that seems pretty likely. Until now, the ruling party in Gaul was used to approving its laws without negotiations.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne would have been elected in her constituency in Normandy with 52 percent of the vote. Borne had never stood for election before. Other members of the government of 15 who took part in these elections are in serious danger of not winning a seat, which would mean that they would leave the executive branch, as Macron had counted on whoever did not win their seat who would leave the government.
The vote completes a crucial electoral cycle for France’s course over the next five years. The next election date is the European Parliament elections in 2024, two years in which the parties can regulate the ongoing recomposition.
DZC (EFE, AFP, Europa Press)