France’s recently re-elected President Emmanuel Macron clearly lacked an absolute majority in the National Assembly with his center camp. In the last round on Sunday, according to the preliminary official results, the liberals came to 245 of the 577 seats, the interior ministry in Paris announced early Monday morning after all votes had been counted.
The new left-wing alliance, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, won 131 seats in parliament, making it the strongest opposition power. A minimum of 289 seats were needed for an absolute majority.
Right-wing populists third strongest force
The right-wing national party Rassemblement National experienced strong growth, with top candidate Marine Le Pen losing to Macron in the last round of the presidential election. It won 89 seats, more than 11 times as many as before, making it the third strongest party in parliament.
The hitherto strongest opposition in parliament and the traditional people’s party of conservative Republicans plus allies won just 74 seats, a heavy loss. Turnout reached a low of 46.23 percent.
Facing a new reality
With French President Emmanuel Macron, you would almost think that the calendar on the international stage barely gave him time to stay home for the parliamentary elections. One more visit to the troops in Romania, a stopover in Moldova and then the long-awaited visit to Kiev for the EU summit in Brussels and then in a few days the G7 meeting in Germany.
On Sunday, however, before the National Assembly elections, the head of state cast his vote as usual in the seaside resort of Le Touquet – only to face the new reality firmly shortly afterwards. After the first round of elections was tight, Macron’s center camp gained only a simple majority with the loss of many seats.
The radical left and especially the right-wing Rassemblement National grew strongly – a real shame for the ambitious, centrist-liberal head of state.
limitation of his power
Because the politician, who has only just been re-elected for a second term, now has to adapt to a limitation of his power. To advance his reform plans in France and Europe, he will henceforth need the support of other camps in parliament – and his fortified opponents will not miss any chance to gain influence.
The last time France had such a government with a simple majority was under President François Mitterrand (1988-1991).
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
