France’s far-right National Rally was widely expected to win this snap election, but instead they were beaten into third place.
A left-wing alliance called New Popular Front won the most seats, after a highly charged and abbreviated election called only four weeks ago by a weakened President Emmanuel Macron.
National Rally (RN) won the first round of this election, and all the opinion polls since then predicted victory in the run-off round. Instead, France now faces a hung parliament with no party having anything like a majority.
RN leader Jordan Bardella blamed “unnatural political alliances” for stopping their rise to power.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who was appointed by President Macron only seven months ago, said he would hand in his resignation in the morning, although he pointed out that his Ensemble alliance were on course to win three times the number of seats that had been forecast.
Results are sending shock waves across the World
The results were also a blow for Macron, who called the snap election, in a bid to re-establish his political dominance. But voters punished him and his alliance for a cost of living crisis and failing public services as the National Rally surged ahead in the first round. The far-right party had also won the European Parliament elections last month.
The leftist alliance, comprising the hard left, Greens and Socialists, were on track to get 184-198 seats, according to polling agencies, which are generally accurate, but short of the majority mark of 289 in the 577-seat National Assembly. Macron’s centrist alliance were set to get between 160-169 seats while the far-right National Rally and its allies were expected to secure 135-143 seats.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) and its allies surprisingly finished third with 142 seats despite a strong first-round showing. The centrist and leftist parties joined forces to deny the RN an opportunity to govern France.
With the official results trickling in, riots broke out in Paris and other cities as left-wing supporters gathered in Place de la Republique to celebrate the alliance getting the plurality of seats.
Various videos posted on social media showed police wearing riot gear confronting the demonstrators as teargas were released, and several protesters were arrested. The demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails on the roads, setting off smoke bombs, prompting clashes between them and the riot police.
What is Left Wing of France?
The left-wing bloc, called the Popular Front, comprises France’s Socialist Party, the French Communist Party, a green political party called the Ecologists and France Unbowed. The parties forged an unlikely alliance in a bid to block the far-right from winning outright after the National Rally’s stunning victory in the first round of elections.
The left-wing bloc has promised to institute several measures, including scrapping Macron’s pension reform and establishing a “right to retire” at 60 years, Fox News reported. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he would resign on Monday but would remain as caretaker prime minister until a new candidate was appointed to the post.
What lies ahead for France?
This election result has pushed Macron to either try to build a fragile coalition with moderates from the left and right or invite the left-wing NFP camp to lead the government. He may also resort to a technocratic government with no political affiliation to handle day-to-day affairs.
France’s left-wing leader Jean-Luc Melenchon says the left is “ready to govern” after emerging as the largest political bloc in parliament, but the country faces a political deadlock as no party won a clear majority.
The fragmented results are set to weaken France’s role in the European Union and farther afield and make it hard for anyone to push through a domestic agenda.
It remains to be seen whether the NFP – a swath of leftist parties including Melenchon’s France Unbowed (LFI), the Socialist Party, the Greens and the Communist Party – can remain unified and agree on a path forward.
Socialist leader Olivier Faure said “France has said no to the far right coming to power. The far right made the choice of dividing the French people.”
One of France’s best-regarded politicians, former Macron prime minister Edouard Philippe, said the election campaign had led to great uncertainty in France.
While a “crushing majority” of the French people had said no to RN, they had also not given the left a majority to govern. It was now, he said, up to centrist political forces to seek a deal that would re-establish stability in France after weeks of tensions.
