Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s red-green alliance played a major role in the first round of France’s legislative elections on Sunday, giving him the opportunity to challenge President Emmanuel Macron for control of the National Assembly in the last vote next weekend.
With the majority of votes counted, the results showed that the alliance of Mélenchon – the New Ecological and Social People’s Union (Nupes) – and the Macron Centrist Ensemble (Together) were the main voters and would be the two most important groups. of the assembly.
Mélenchon’s success, however, is unlikely to translate into a 577-seat majority majority, as moderate voters distrustful of his reputation as a far-left Eurosceptic side are expected to rally alongside him. of Macron in the second round on June 19th.
According to the first forecasts of the pollsters, Macron’s group will maintain control and end up with between 275 and 310 seats, compared to Mélenchon’s 180-210. A party or alliance needs 289 seats for an absolute majority.
Mélenchon has called on voters to “get up” at the polls for next Sunday’s second round “to reject Macron’s disastrous plans once and for all” and have his say after “30 years of neoliberalism”.
Macron Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne criticized the political “extremists” who oppose her government and said: “We are the only political force capable of gaining a majority in the National Assembly. and the war at the gates of Europe, we cannot run the risk of instability. ”
Each constituency elects its own deputy, and in many the election of voters has been reduced from a dozen candidates in the first round to only two in the second. In the majority, the second round will be between Macron’s candidate and Mélenchon’s candidate.
Ballot papers for the first round of French parliamentary elections empty on Sunday in Strasbourg © AP
The results, seven weeks after Macron defeated far-right leader Marine Le Pen and convincingly won a second term as president, mark a spectacular comeback for the French left after five years in the political wilderness.
Under the leadership of Mélenchon – a 70-year veteran politician who finished third in the presidential election just behind Le Pen and who had previously announced his retirement – the left will be able to at least raise a vocal opposition to the parliament to that of Macron. legislative agenda as it seeks to pursue its economic reforms.
In 2017, after eliminating his socialist and center-right rivals to win his first term as president, Macron saw his candidates gain full control of the National Assembly in the ensuing legislative elections.
This time, if his centrist alliance Ensemble does not get a majority in the Assembly, the president will have to find the support of other parties such as the conservative Les Républicains to pass laws, for example to extend the retirement age from 62 to 65 proposal to reform the pension system.
In the unlikely event that Mélenchon’s Nupes alliance wins the majority next week, Macron will continue to control foreign policy and defense, but should appoint a prime minister with more than half support. of the deputies of the assembly and “will cohabit.” with a government hostile to its economic policies.
Together with the citizens of other liberal democracies, including the United States, the French have become disillusioned in recent years and have turned to nationalist and populist politicians for solutions.
The partial results of the Ministry of the Interior indicated that more than half of the French voters did not bother to vote on Sunday, which suggests a record low turnout of 47% for this type of election.
French politics is now divided into three major camps, with Macron and his allies at the center, Le Pen leading the anti-immigration nationalists on the far right, and Mélenchon at the head of his new left-green alliance, which includes its own France Insoumise (France Unbowed) and the socialist and communist parties.
Le Pen’s Rassemblement National party won about 20 percent of the vote on Sunday and is expected to win 10 to 25 seats in the National Assembly, while the Republicans on the right have 40 to 60 seats in the polls. initial.
Among those who failed to make the cut in Sunday’s election was Eric Zemmour, the star of far-right television talk shows, who had already lost in the presidential race and has been unable to replace Le Pen as leader. French far right.
In the first round of the April presidential election, almost 60% of French voters chose a far-right or far-left candidate.