France’s left-wing alliance on July 7, 2024, was set to get the greatest number of seats in a stunning reversal of fortunes for the bloc in the second round of the parliamentary polls, while the far right that won the first round and was projected to win the elections now has been relegated to the third place. President Emmanuel Macron and his party, the Ensemble, is expected to finish second, but the country faces the prospect of a hung parliament after none of these groups secured a majority.
The leftist alliance, comprising the hard left, Greens and Socialists were on track to get 184-198 seats according to polling agencies which are generally accurate, but short of the majority mark of the 289 in the 577 seats in the National Assembly. Macron’s centrist alliance was set to get between 160-169 seats, while the far-right National Rally and its allied were expected to secure 135-143 seats.
With the official results trickling in riots broke out in Paris and other cities as left-wing supporters gathered in the Place de la Republique to celebrate the alliance getting plurality of seats. Videos were posted on social media showed that police wearing riot gear confronting the demonstrators as teargas were released and several protestors were arrested. The demonstrators threw Molotov Cocktails on the roads setting up of smoke bombs prompting clashes between them and riot police.
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The left-wing bloc called the Popular Front comprises France’s Socialist Party, the French Communist Party, a green political party called the Ecologists and France Unbowed. These parties forged an alliance in a bid to block the far right from winning outright after the National Rally stunning victory in the first round of elections.
The left-wing bloc has promised to institute several measures, including scrapping Macron’s pension reform and establishing right to retire at 60 years, an international media reported. PM Gabriel Attal said he would resign on Monday but would remain as the caretaker PM until a new candidate was appointed to the post. The results came as a blow to Macron, who called for the snap election in a bid to re-establish political dominance.
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But the voters punished him and his alliance for a cost-of-living crisis and failing public services as the National Rally surged ahead in the first round. The far-right party had also won the European Union Elections too. The National Rally capitalized on the issues that the French people were facing, shedding their historic reputation for racism and antisemitism as well as the spreading their appeal way beyond their traditional strongholds, but it was not enough to secure victory. Despite the stunning defeat, party leader Marine Le Pen said the seeds have been sowed for the future.
Hard left leader Jean-Luc-Melenchon said Macron should invite the New Popular Front celebrated the news saying that the mandate should be respected. He however ruled out running a coalition of various left-wing parties leading to uncertainly of who will run the government. On the other hand, Raphael Glucksmann from the Socialist Party called on to the left-wing alliance partners to act like grown-ups saying there was need to engage in negotiations as the bloc is ahead in divided parliament.
Despite the uncertainty looming, volunteers of the New Popular Front celebrated the news saying that they were cherishing the moment for now and didn’t think about the next course of action. Many of them said, they were unable to come to believe that the left-wing was indeed set to trump the far right after stunning setback in the first round of polls, international media reported.
All the opinion polls had projected a victory for the National Rally, but with the party set to finish third, party leader Jordan Bardella blamed unnatural political alliance for stopping there rise to power, international media reported. The election results came ahead of the Paris Olympics that will begin on July 26, 2024 and France will wait with bated breath for a new government to keep the country stable during the Games and beyond following months of tensions.
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