PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron is set to face a potentially turbulent five-year stalemate after his centrist alliance failed to win an absolute majority in the second round of parliament on Sunday, just weeks after his re-election to the Elysium. Voters rallied in support of the far-right National Coalition and the left-wing NUPES coalition, depriving Macron of the governing majority. According to near-final results, Macron’s Coalition Ensemble won 238 seats, compared to 141 seats for NUPES, led by far-left fan Jean-Luc Mélenchon, while Marin Le Pen’s National Rally left with 89 seats. The vote in the second round determines the composition of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament. In a first round of voting last Sunday, Macron’s coalition of parties aligned with the NUPES alliance, sparking concerns among some in Macron’s camp that the French president’s popularity had plummeted. On Sunday, Macron supporters were upset after several party weapons, including National Assembly President Richard Ferrand and Christoph Castaner, the whip of Macron’s party in the outgoing hall, lost their seats. Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon and Environment Minister Amélie de Montchalin have also lost their posts – something that is likely to force them to resign, as has been the case for Sarkozy’s lost ministers. Newly-elected Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne, who won her seat in Normandy by a narrow majority, said the Ensemble would work to expand its support in parliament and create an “action majority”. “This unprecedented situation is a danger to our country, with the situations we face at home and abroad,” he said, acknowledging the fragmentation of the vote and the challenges ahead. “But this vote, we must respect it. As [the biggest group] in parliament, we have a special responsibility. ” In characteristic militant comments to his supporters, Melanson, whose left-wing coalition was formed less than two months ago, said the results were a sign of “the destruction of the presidential party.” “We have achieved our political goal… overthrow [the president] “who so arrogantly turns the hand of the country, who has been elected who knows what,” he said. In April, Macron won a second term with 59 percent of the vote, compared to Le Pen’s 41 percent. Melanson, who finished third, accused Macron of being elected by default and promised to challenge him in the parliamentary election.
From the dominant force to the relative majority
In an unprecedented situation that has not occurred in France since the 1980s, an incumbent French president will have a relative majority, meaning he has the largest group in parliament, but well below the 289-seat threshold required for a governing majority. The near-final results show that the Ensemble won only 238 seats, up from 345 in the outgoing hall. If confirmed, the results essentially mean that parliament will be paralyzed and Macron will find it difficult to pass any legislation, including his controversial plans to reform France’s costly pension system. The results are likely to lead to weeks of negotiations as Macron seeks allies from rival parties. The conservative Les Républicains, who won 78 seats, are potential allies and could be a key figure in Macron’s second term. On Sunday, divisions had already surfaced in the Conservative camp over whether to sign an agreement with Macron’s Ensemble. Former Conservative minister Jean-François Cope called on Sunday for a “government pact” between Les Républicains and Macron’s coalition to “defeat the rising extremists” in France, while President Christian Jacob said the party “will remain in opposition. ” With such divisions, cooperation is more likely to operate on an ad-hoc basis, which means long-term legislation negotiations and volatile agreements. The government will also be able to use a controversial tool that allows it to pass legislation by decree. However, Macron would need dozens of Conservative lawmakers to approve any of his reforms, speculating on Sunday that he could call early elections in about a year. The French president appeared very weak on Sunday, although he maintains foreign policy as his guardian authority.
PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON CRITICAL RATING
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Victory of the limbs
The results of the parliamentary elections confirmed the reform of French politics, with voters massively supporting candidates from the far left and the far right. NUPES, made up of the far left The France Unbowed, the Greens, the Communists and the Socialist Party, is becoming the largest opposition party in parliament. It is led by far-left leader Mélenchon, who wants to step down from the full-fledged NATO administration and disobey parts of the EU treaty with which he disagrees. On Sunday, Melanson promised that NUPES would become a “battle tool” against the Macron coalition, because their “visions” were completely opposite. Macron’s ambition to push back the retirement age to 64 could well be the first point of fire. However, the right and the far right came much higher than expected, conflicting impressions that France was swaying to the left. The results are an unprecedented victory for Marin Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, which took 89 seats, up from 6 today. The results mean that the far-right party is going to gain significant influence and more financial support. They will be able to gain key positions in the National Assembly, propose legislation and challenge government bills. Unlike NUPES, the National Rally is a fairly homogeneous and disciplined party and comes out much stronger from the vote. The results also put an end to speculation that Le Pen’s rise to the far right was declining after her third failed presidential bid.
