According to the INOP Institute, Macron’s “Ensemble” alliance is likely to have 210 to 250 seats in the new National Assembly, it said late on Sunday. 289 are needed for an absolute majority. According to the IFOP, the left-wing NUPES alliance around Jean-Luc Melenchon can expect from 150 to 180 seats.
The result is a huge blow to Macron, whose camp currently holds an absolute majority in the lower house of parliament. Typically, parliamentary elections held shortly after the presidential election are seen as confirmation, so the same political force often wins with an absolute majority.
Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes Melenchon spoke of a “total debacle of the presidential party” in his speech
Huge success for Melenchon and Le Pen
The new left alliance and Melenchon, on the other hand, have enjoyed enormous success, giving them more influence as the most powerful opposition group. Melenchon strongly attacked Macron and his camp in his speech: “This is a total disaster for the presidential party,” he said Sunday night in Paris. The leftist politician also spoke of an “electoral defeat of macronism”. He renewed the claim of the leftist alliance he led to want to rule the country. “All options are in your hands,” he shouted in front of fans.
French Parliament
Parliament consists of two chambers: the National Assembly (lower house) and the Senate (upper house). The National Assembly passes the laws and can overthrow the government with a vote of no confidence.
The big winner in the parliamentary elections is probably the right-wing populist party Rassemblement Nacional (RN), which is projected to have 60 to 100 deputies in the National Assembly – at least ten times more than before. Party leader Jordan Bardella spoke of a “tsunami” for his party. “The French people have made Emmanuel Macron a minority president,” he told TF1.
The RN must form his own group for the first time, that is, get more money and more speaking time. The predecessor National Front party was last able to do this under the amended electoral law in 1986. The group’s leader is likely to be longtime party leader Marine Le Pen, which was defeated by Macron in the final round of the presidential election. Le Pen welcomed his group’s unexpectedly good performance. The Rassemblement National will form “the largest faction in the history of (their) political family” in the National Assembly, she said in Henin-Beaumont on Sunday.
Support from other camps needed
In the parliamentary elections, Macron was worried about whether he would be able to implement his plans in his second term. For that, he needed a majority in Parliament. Now with a relative majority, the president and government are forced to seek support from other camps. Depending on the project, they will seek to rely on center-left or center-right forces.
Even though many French people were unhappy with Macron’s first term, the 44-year-old president benefited from the fact that parliamentary elections in France are seen as a confirmation of the presidential election. Traditionally, the winner’s supporters participate in the voting, while others usually stay at home. However, the left-wing alliance managed to mobilize enough supporters to make things difficult for the president.
Graphics: APA/ORF.at; Source: Le Monde
Too many projects in pipeline
In France, important projects are waiting to be implemented: improvements in education and health are being demanded, people are waiting for purchasing power support in the crisis and many want more energetic steps in the climate crisis. In addition, Macron wants to make a controversial pension reform, the French must work harder.
The election was also a long-distance duel between two very different political figures. On one side, the eloquent 44-year-old president and former investment banker Macron. On the international stage, he acts as the leader of the state, but at the national level he struggles with an image of an arrogant, elite politician. Opposite him was left-wing veteran Melenchon, a left-wing ideologue and strategist who sees himself as a champion of the people and social justice.