Very close to losing the absolute majority in the National Assembly was the alliance of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, which would complicate the application of his government program.
The alarms went off in the Elysee this Sunday following the first round of the legislative elections. These placed the alliance of the president, Emmanuel Macronside by side with the left-wing coalition led by Jean-Luc Melenchon and that they question his absolute majority in the National Assembly.
With 96% of the vote counted, the Macronist alliance Ensemble (Together) obtains 25.68% of the votes, while the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) reaches 25.14%.
The day marked a record abstention for a first round, 52.54%. Fewer than one in two French eligible to vote went to the polls.
The projection of the distribution of seats carried out by different polling institutes places Ensemble on the verge of losing the absolute majority (currently it has 350 seats), since it would obtain between 255 and 310 deputies, in a chamber where the absolute majority stands at 289.
Two months following Macron’s comfortable victory in the presidential electionshis project may be slowed down if he does not have a majority in the lower house, which is necessary to carry out his proposals, including the controversial pension reform.
The president, who cannot officially campaign, has increased his public events in recent days, in which he reiterated the need to have solid parliamentary support in the face of international turmoil.
Irruption of the leftist alliance
But his appeal does not guarantee that support, in the face of the emergence of Nupes, led by Mélenchon, and which includes his party, La Francia Insumisaalong with socialists, communists and ecologist
According to the vote projections, Nupes would obtain between 150 and 210 seats, compared to the 58 that they totaled in 2017, and would become the main opposition force.
The left-wing coalition achieved a similar number of votes than when its members ran separately in 2017, but by running together this time they have managed to place many more candidates with a chance of winning a seat in the second round.
It would outperform the conservative right of The Republicansuntil now the second parliamentary force, which can lose half of its weight (112 seats) and would remain with between 50 and 80 deputies.
The far-right party Marine Le Penwhich is around 20% of the votes, somewhat less than what she herself obtained in the presidential elections in April, would have between 10 and 45 deputies, compared to the current 8, according to those projections.
Important defeat for the other representative of the extreme right, Éric Zemmour, discarded in his constituency and whose party may be left without parliamentary representation.
The most enthusiastic on election night was Mélenchon, third of the presidential runs, who succeeded in his bid to fight Macron’s victory, in search of a parliamentary majority that would force the president to appoint him prime minister in a cohabitation government.
“The presidential party, in this first round, has been overcome and defeated. It is the first time that a newly elected president has not achieved a majority in the Assembly”, cried Mélenchon, who was not appearing in any constituency and who highlighted the success of the alliance he formed despite the opposition of historical socialist leaders.
