French President Emmanuel Macron’s political bloc has lost its majority in parliament. The final results were published on the website of the Ministry of the Interior during the night from Sunday to Monday.
For an absolute majority in the Assemblée Nationale, the French House of Representatives, 289 of the 577 seats are needed. Macron’s party coalition, Ensemble, will have just 245 seats after the second and final round of voting.
The left-wing opposition NUPES, led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, won 131 seats. Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National has 89 seats and the traditional right-wing party Les Republicains has 61 seats.
Macron was re-elected president in April. He promised tax cuts, social system reform and an increase in the retirement age. Now that he has lost the majority in parliament, he will probably have great difficulty enacting new policies.
Presumably, Macron will try to form an alliance with Les Republicains. Together with that political bloc, Ensemble would have a majority in parliament.
Macron’s defeat also means he will likely have to change his newly appointed cabinet. In France, it is tradition for ministers from districts that have not been won by their party to resign. The positions of the Deputy Minister of Europe, Clement Beaune, and the Minister of the Environment, Amelie de Montchalin, are therefore uncertain.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne called the result “a risk to the country”. She also pointed to the “stability” in France: “We want to continue to protect you and ensure your safety.”
Historically low turnout
At 46.2 percent, the turnout was slightly lower than in the first round of the parliamentary elections, when 47.2 percent of French people went to the polls.
In a two-round system, many voters see their favorite disappear in the first round. They wonder whether it still makes sense to vote for someone tactically in the second round. Five years ago, more than 57 percent of voters no longer participated in the second round.
Macron’s loss was already apparent in the first round last week. His political bloc won by a very slim majority of 25.7 percent of the vote. NUPES received 25.66 percent, the right-wing populist Le Pen and her party ended up in third place with 18.68 percent of the vote.
In France, the parliament works with a district system. This means that each constituency, a total of 577, is represented in parliament by one seat.