The loss of a majority of his government in the National Assembly by French President Emmanuel Macron in Sunday’s election has provoked immediate challenges from far-left and far-right MPs who say they will block their attempts to legislate and reform the state pension system.
Eric Coquerel, a member of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party leading the new left-green opposition alliance, threatened a vote of no-confidence against Macron Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on 5 July, the day he has to do it. announce your government’s program.
At the other end of the political spectrum, Marine Le Pen, of the far-right National Rassemblement, told reporters on Monday that Macron was now a “minority chairman” of the pension reform plan of whom he was dead and buried.
The left, in fact, would find it impossible to obtain the majority needed to censor Borne successfully without the support of the conservative Les Républicains (LR), whose secretary general, Aurélien Pradié, on Monday rejected the idea of a motion of censure. immediately to overthrow the government.
But the triumphant rhetoric of both the far left and the far right shows how difficult it will be for Macron to rule France from the center now that he has lost a majority in the National Assembly which he enjoyed in his first term. after his 2017 election victory.
The hanging parliament produced by the second round of Sunday’s legislative elections means Macron will have to make deals with other parties like the LR in the assembly to pass a law over the next five years.
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The final results of the Interior Ministry showed that Macron’s centrist alliance Ensemble (Together) had won 245 seats in the assembly, well below the 289 needed for an absolute majority.
Mélenchon’s green-left alliance – the New Ecological and Social People’s Union (Nupes) – had the support of many young urban voters and became the main opposition bloc with 131 members in the 577th chamber. seats.
However, the day after the election, cracks appeared in the left-wing alliance when its minor partners – Socialists, Greens and Communists – rejected Mélenchon’s proposal to set aside his party identity to form a single group. parliamentarians. Olivier Faure, the Socialist leader, also said Coquerel’s conversation about a motion of censure against the government was not “at this stage” a common position of the alliance.
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Le Pen’s anti-immigration RN was the big surprise of the election, winning 89 seats, more than 10 times more than the eight he won in previous legislative elections. Conservative Les Républicains and its partners won 74 seats.
Borne, who met with Macron at the Elysée Palace on Monday, said in a post-election speech that the situation was “unprecedented” and posed “a risk to the country”. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire admitted the results were “disappointing” and said the government should be “imaginative” to enact its next round of reforms.
If Borne survives as prime minister after the election setback, one of his first tasks is expected to be a cabinet reshuffle because three government ministers running for office were defeated, leading to automatic resignation according to the guidelines imposed by Macron.
Macitte Health Minister Brigitte Bourguignon lost by 56 votes to a far-right candidate in northern France, and Environment Minister Amélie de Montchalin lost on the left to Essonne, south of Paris. In a constituency on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, Sea Minister Justine Benin was beaten by a left-wing rival.
Other macronist scalps vindicated by the left in the election include Christophe Castaner, a former interior minister who has been Macron’s party leader in the assembly, and Richard Ferrand, outgoing president.