France elections 2024: The people of France woke up to an uncertain political landscape after an election on Sunday saw the leftwing New Popular Front (NPF) alliance win the most votes but without winning an absolute majority.
In a stunning reversal of fortunes, the result was a blow to Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN), which had been predicted to win the most seats but came in third, as well as President Emmanuel Macron, whose centrist Together alliance lost about 80 seats and came in second place. The country is staring at the prospect of a hung Parliament after none of these groups secured a majority.
According to the official results released early on Monday, all three main blocs fell far short of the 289 seats needed to control the 577-seat National Assembly, the more powerful of France’s two legislative chambers.
The results showed just over 180 seats for the New Popular Front leftist coalition, which placed first, ahead of Macron’s centrist alliance, with more than 160 seats. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and its allies were restricted to third place, although their more than 140 seats were still way ahead of the party’s previous best showing — 89 seats in 2022, AP reported.
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A hung parliament is an unknown territory for modern France, which has no recent history of coalition governments. It also means Macron, who has three remaining years in office, will probably “cohabit” with a prime minister who does not share his political affiliations.
‘As long as duty demands’
“Our country is facing an unprecedented political situation and is preparing to welcome the world in a few weeks,” said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who plans to offer his resignation later in the day.
With the Paris Olympics looming, Attal said he was ready to stay at his post “as long as duty demands.”
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal has said he will offer his resignation on Monday but there is no obvious candidate to replace him; Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed, the largest party in the NFP, is a controversial figure disliked by even some within his own party.
He seemed to take a swipe at Macron’s decision to call the snap vote, saying he “didn’t choose” for France’s parliament to be dissolved.
Still, many rejoiced. In Paris’ Stalingrad square, supporters on the left cheered and applauded as projections showing the alliance ahead flashed up on a giant screen, AP reported.
Result met with mixed reactions
A large crowd later gathered at Paris’s Place de la République to celebrate the left-wing alliance winning the most seats in parliament as they chanted: “Young people screw the National Front,” a popular left-wing slogan.
The mood was more somber for supporters of the Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party. At the Bois de Vincennes Park in Paris, the buoyant atmosphere at a RN campaign event took a nosedive an hour before the polls closed as it became apparent the far right bloc would come third in the vote.
After the projection was announced, Jordan Bardella, the RN’s 28-year-old leader, said France had been thrown into “uncertainty and instability.”
In addition to this, as the results trickled in, 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.
Macron called for snap elections
The results were also a blow for French President Emmanuel Macron, who called the snap election, in a bid to re-establish his political dominance.
After the far-right parties rattled the traditional powers in the European Union (EU) with major gains in parliamentary seats earlier in June, dealing an especially humiliating defeat to French President Emmanuel Macron, a decision for immediate dissolution of the national parliament was made and snap elections were announced.
It was a massive political risk since his party could suffer more losses, hobbling the rest of his presidential term that ends in 2027.
Édouard Philippe, France’s former prime minister and an ally of Macron, said the president’s gamble of calling a snap election had resulted in “great vagueness.” “The truth is that none of the political blocs in the assembly has a majority on its own to govern, ” he said. “The central political forces therefore have a responsibility to stay. They must, without compromise, promote the creation of an agreement that will stabilize the political situation.”
The election results came ahead of the Paris Olympics that will begin on July 26 and France will wait with bated breath for a new government that is required to keep the country stable during the Games and beyond following months of tensions.