French left-leaning coalition emerges winning in the elections shocked by the victory of the extreme right

The turnout of voters was at a level that hasn’t been ever before in the past. Surveys indicated that the coalition of leftists New Popular Front gaining a majority of the seats in parliament while the extreme right National Rally in third place.

Jul 07, 2024 06:51 PM

 

People gather at an election night rally after the results of the French second round parliamentary election on the Place de la Republique in Paris on Sunday. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images

PARIS — Following the shock that came with French President Macron’s decision to hold snap elections in the last month, an additional surprise was awaiting French voters when polls ended on Sunday night: the ultra-right National Party (RN) did not win the majority of seats in the French parliament pollsters had anticipated. It was not even close.

With turnout for voters at their highest in more than 40 years, early estimations suggested that the most seats will be going in the direction of New Popular Front (NFP) an alliance of left-wingers that quickly came together after Macron declared that elections for the legislature were scheduled for next year.

“The will of the people must be strictly respected,” Jean-Luc Melenchon, the left-wing leader spoke to an audience of thousands of people in the northern part of Paris Sunday evening. He declared that the result was a win for the newly-formed alliance. He added that the results showed the country’s utter rejection to accept a far-right government. “Our people have clearly rejected the worst case scenario,” Melenchon said. “Tonight, the National Rally is far from having an absolute majority.”

The leader of the left-wing group La France Insoumise (LFI) Jean-Luc Melenchon waves to supporters during the night of elections on the night of elections in Paris this Sunday. Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images

Initial results show the left-leaning NFP with the largest number of seats, but it isn’t able to achieve the absolute majority required for governing Macron’s centrist Ensemble coalition comes in second, with the ultra-right RN is third. Final results won’t be released until the early hours of Monday morning, but without a party that has one of the absolute majority requirements, the future of the country is uncertain.

The Prime Secretary Gabriel Attal announced his resignation just over an hour after the results came out on Sunday night. Macron is under pressure to select a replacement to replace him from his NFP coalition.

The results, which showed the highest turnout in over 40 years, with a 67.1 percent turnout, which is the highest figure in more than 40 years, indicate an unambiguous opposition to a far-right government. Although the RN had made its biggest gains in its time, its election campaign has been plagued with accusations of antisemitism and racism.

French president Emmanuel Macron, right, is a voter in an election in the second phase of elections for the legislative in Le Touquet Paris-Plage in northern France on Sunday. Mohammed Badra/AP hide caption

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Mohammed Badra/AP

The RN headquarters for elections in the east of Paris the crowd were stunned and shocked as the first figures were announced through on a huge TV screen. “I’m incredibly disappointed, but democracy has spoken,” Joscelin Cousin, 19, an RN supporters spoke to NPR just minutes after the initial results were declared. “I suppose people are still afraid of the false caricature image that RN has spent years working dispell,” he added. Champagne flutes adorned with celebratory champagne were not touched when the crowd quickly disappeared.

The party’s leader Marine Le Pen was nowhere to be seen, but instead sent her younger protégé and party president Jordan Bardella to deliver an empathetic speech to acknowledge the party’s mediocre results. “Unfortunately, alliances of dishonor tonight have deprived the French people of a policy of recovery,” Bardella said and added that the struggle for power was not ending. “More that ever before, it is now clear that the National Rally embodies the only alternative and stands with for the French people. We don’t seek power for its own sake and we want it to be given over towards people who are French citizens.”