This Is How the Left Thwarted the Far-Right’s Dream of Controlling France

A left-wing alliance topped the results of the French legislative elections, as voting in the second round thwarted the advance of the far-right led by Marine Le Pen, and gave the camp of French President Emmanuel Macron an opportunity to return again.

Voting results in the legislative elections in France showed that the New Popular Front (NPF) came in first place, and President Macron's camp ranked second, ahead of the far right, which came third.

The BBC believed that France would witness a hung parliament, as none of the three alliances would be able to form an absolute majority of 289 seats in the parliament, which consists of 577 seats.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, a centrist and ally of Macron, tendered his resignation but Macron asked him to stay on for now in order to ensure the country's stability.

Shocking Results

According to the final results of the French Ministry of the Interior, the NPF surprisingly came in first place, obtaining 182 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly.

As for Macron's camp, it showed its ability to withstand a month after the president took the risk of calling these early elections, while obtaining only 163 seats, compared to 250 in June 2022.

The right-wing National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen and her allies, strongly entered the new National Assembly with a historic number of 143 seats, but it remained far from power while recording a shocking result for its aspirations compared to what it recorded during the first session.

Next come Republicans and various right-wing candidates, who are credited with 68 elected officials. While there are 21 deputies from several small parties or independents.

According to Le Monde newspaper, the participation rate in the second round of the legislative elections reached 66.6%, the highest since 1997.

The BBC described the results of the French legislative elections as drama and said that just one week ago all expectations were that the far-right would dominate France.

As soon as the results appeared, veteran leftist and NPF leader Jean-Luc Melenchon told supporters in Paris's historic Stalingrad Square: “The president must invite the NPF to govern,” insisting that Macron must admit that he and his alliance had lost.

Regarding its foreign policy, the NPF pledged to immediately recognize a Palestinian state, and to pressure “Israel” and Hamas for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The alliance built its election campaign on broad economic foundations, as it pledged to raise the minimum monthly wage to about $1,700 and set a maximum price for basic foodstuffs, electricity, fuel, and gas.

It also pledged to cancel Macron's pension reform, a very unpopular policy that raised the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 years.

Although these pledges have proven popular, they come at a time when France is heading toward a period of austerity. 

It is noteworthy that France has one of the highest levels of budget deficits in the eurozone and risks falling foul of the European Commission's new fiscal rules, which were suspended to help countries recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the energy crisis.

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Political Uncertainty

Recently, the French political class began deliberations to build an unknown majority and appoint a prime minister, after the surprise results of the legislative elections, which produced a National Assembly divided between three blocs.

Without any party obtaining an absolute majority, France finds itself in an unprecedented atmosphere marked by political uncertainty.

In turn, French President Emmanuel Macron decided to keep Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in office after the elections in which the government's political camp lost its role as the strongest alliance in the country to the left in a hung parliament.

The constitution stipulates that Macron chooses who will form the government, but whoever chooses him will face a vote of confidence in the National Assembly, which will meet for 15 days on July 18.

This means that Macron needs to name someone acceptable to a majority of lawmakers.

But it remains unclear who Attal's successor will be, according to CNN, although the election results mean Macron may face the prospect of having to appoint a figure from the left-wing alliance.

Reuters ruled out the formation of a left-leaning alliance, citing the fact that France is not accustomed to this type of alliance building in the post-election phase, unlike what is common in northern European democracies such as Germany and the Netherlands.

However, the Associated Press reported that Macron may seek an agreement with the moderate left to form a joint government, but expected such negotiations, if they occurred, to be very difficult.

It stated that modern France has never witnessed, throughout its history, a parliament without a dominant party, noting that divisions in Paris over tax, immigration, and Middle East policies make building cross-party consensus to agree on government positions and legislation particularly difficult.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon ruled out the formation of a broad alliance of parties with different orientations, saying that it was Macron's duty to invite the leftist alliance to rule.

In the centrist camp, Macron's party leader, Stephane Sejourne, said that he was ready to work with the main parties in the country, but he ruled out concluding any agreement with Melenchon's party.

However, there is no indication of an imminent disintegration of the NPF at this stage, according to Reuters, which indicates the possibility of the formation of a technocratic government that manages day-to-day affairs but does not supervise structural changes.

Accusations and Reactions

The result of Sunday's elections once again casts doubt on the ability of the far right to win national elections, as it is still facing accusations of unprofessionalism, similar to dozens of candidates who were criticized for making racist and anti-Semitic statements or talking about conspiracies.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen commented on the election results on Sunday, saying: “The tide is rising. It did not rise high enough this time, but it continues to rise and, consequently, our victory has only been delayed.”

The leader of France's National Rally, Jordan Bardella, criticized the alliance of shame that deprived the French of a recovery policy.

At the international level, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that the defeat of the far-right in France in the elections made Warsaw happy and would bring disappointment to Russia and relief to Ukraine.

In Germany, an official in the Social Democratic Party led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz considered that with the far-right's loss in the French elections, the worst had been avoided.

Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez welcomed the choice of France and the UK to reject the far-right and adhere strictly to the socialist left.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva praised the victory against extremism and the maturity of political forces in France.

Lula stressed that the result in France and the Labour Party's victory in the UK this week reinforced the importance of dialogue between progressive segments to defend democracy and social justice.

In turn, Paris-based activist Mehran Homsi explained in a statement to Al-Estiklal that “France, which is preparing to host the Olympic Games within three weeks, will enter a long period of political uncertainty.”

“With such a divided parliament, there is no hope of major structural reforms at the national level, and the best leftists can hope for is to form temporary alliances to vote on individual legislation,” he said.

“Macron’s gamble may have kept the far-right out of power, but it may plunge the country into chaos, especially with no other parliamentary elections possible for another year,” Mr. Homsi noted.