French political expert: The Valgalliansen worked – adressa.no

The collaboration has often been nicknamed Folkefronten. It alludes to the fact that parties in the centre, on the left and partly on the right in French politics have come together to strategically prevent the National Assembly from winning mandates.

– I interpret the picture so that it has worked, says Orban, who is an associate professor at Østfold University College and presenter of the podcast France Explained.

In the run-up to the election, there was much discussion regarding how this collaboration would turn out. In several constituencies, candidates have withdrawn in such a way as to avoid a split among voters who vote to the left or to the centre.

– Think Macron will appoint a new prime minister

According to the forecasts, President Emmanuel Macron’s center bloc came in second place in the number of seats in the National Assembly. Orban the president seems to have been weakened.

– The extent of the damage was still better than feared for Macron because the supporting parties have come forward, he says.

Macron is likely to appoint a new prime minister, as the broad coalition on the left appears to have won the most seats. Who it might be, is now difficult to say, Orban believes.

– The only thing that is certain is that there will be no one from the far left – Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party. Maybe there will be someone from the Greens, he says.

By all accounts, Macron will end up with what in France is called political cohabitation – cohabitation. The expression is used where the president and prime minister come from different political groupings.

In that case, France gets its fourth period of so-called cohabitation. The previous one took place between 1997 and 2002.

– Must cooperate with the left

Orban points out that Macron must now deal with and take into account parties on the left. He started as a very powerful president in the period 2017-2022, but his power was reduced following the election in 2022 and thus further following today’s election, he describes.

– He will not be able to take a purely liberal line as he did in the past, says Orban.

It came as a surprise to many when Macron announced in June that he was calling for new elections.

– He wanted to get clarification on French politics, but you don’t see any clarification in the new national assembly. There are three blocs of approximately the same size and the majority for the president is smaller, says Orban.

– We now see a president who has to cooperate with the left, and we see a president who cannot pursue the same policy as before. But if the aim was to clear the road for the National Assembly, it was successful to a certain extent, he says.