President Emmanuel Macron’s RE party gets 20 percent in the first round of elections, according to preliminary figures from the Ministry of the Interior.
It was Macron who surprised by dissolving parliament and calling new elections after the setback in the elections to the European Parliament. His candidates did not fare much better this time and he is now being criticized for playing irresponsibly high.
Elections in France 2024
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– Democracy has spoken. We need an absolute majority so that (party leader) Jordan Bardella can be appointed prime minister in a week, National Assembly leader Marine Le Pen said at an election meeting at home in the Hénin-Beaumont constituency.
Calls to gathering
On election night, Macron called on voters and parties to rally around candidates who can defeat National Assembly representatives in the second round on July 7. Then the final distribution of the 577 seats in the parliament is decided.
But one of the leaders of the parties in the NFP, the Socialist leader Olivier Faure, perceives Macron as not unequivocally giving his support to the NFP, only on certain conditions. Macron should think again, according to Faure.
– Now it is their (Macron’s party’s) turn to ensure that the extreme right cannot govern, Olivier Faure told several thousand listeners at the Place de la République in Paris, recalling that the left had given Macron its support in previous, decisive elections.
The result paves the way for an uncertain outcome of the second round of the election. For an absolute majority, 289 seats are required and RN is still assumed, with the support of some of LR’s candidates, to have a certain, small chance left to get it together. If that happens, Emmanuel Macron’s room for maneuver as president would be much smaller.
If the majority in parliament becomes unclear, it will be difficult to make decisions, something that has already scared the financial markets.
Voter turnout increased sharply
A majority requires at least 289 of the 577 seats.
In the first round, 75 of the places were secured, according to the Ministry of the Interior. They were taken by candidates who received over 50 percent of the vote. 37 of them are from the RN, 32 from the left alliance.
In the second round, there will be, on paper, a fight between three candidates in over 300 districts. In six districts it is between four candidates.
Voter turnout increased sharply compared to the 2022 election. Almost 67 percent of eligible voters participated, up from 47 percent, according to preliminary figures.
Socialist leader Olivier Faure. Photo: Thomas Padilla/AP/TT