Emmanuel Macron, the French President, likened his decision to call for snap elections to tossing a live grenade at the feet of his opponents. This daring move was in response to a resounding victory by the far-right in the European elections held in June.
The gamble was indeed explosive, and the final results left the nation in shock. The left-wing alliance emerged as the victor, securing the first place with 182 seats, leaving the far-right lagging in third – a stunning turnaround from the first-round results of the previous Sunday.
The announcement of the projected results at Place de la Republique in Paris was met with jubilant applause and celebratory fireworks. The crowd heaved a collective sigh of relief, believing that France had been saved from the precipice.
The voter turnout for the Sunday election was the highest in over two decades, as French citizens expressed their rejection of a far-right government at the ballot box. However, the left fell short of the 289 seats required for a majority, and with a weakened president, the national assembly is anticipated to be more fragmented than ever.
France is now on the brink of a prolonged period of instability as three rival blocs, each with their own competing ideologies and agendas, attempt to form a coalition or risk being mired in a state of paralysis.
The far-right National Rally (RN) leader, Jordan Bardella, expressed his disappointment, arguing that his party��s defeat was only made possible by the tactical voting orchestrated by Macron and the left-wing NFP coalition, which decided to withdraw 200 candidates from the race in an effort to block the far right.
Despite not performing as well as expected, the RN��s result is still a victory for Marine Le Pen, the doyenne of the French far-right, as her party continues to gain more votes with each election.
A state of turmoil for France
The left-wing NFP alliance, however, faces the challenge of maintaining unity. The last time it formed a bloc under the name of Nupes, in 2022, it disintegrated due to personal and policy differences.
The bloc comprises five different parties. The far-left France Unbowed and the Communist party have joined forces with the centre-left parties, the socialists, and the greens, to form a New Popular Front. The challenge now is not just uniting against the far right, but also agreeing on a prime ministerial candidate from their camp and the policies they will pursue.
With such a divided parliament, major structural reforms at the domestic level seem unlikely. The best the leftists can hope for are ad hoc alliances to pass individual pieces of legislation.
It��s equally hard to envision how the current political landscape would allow France to play a significant role in the Ukraine crisis. Macron has previously pledged to continue supporting Ukraine militarily, while Le Pen has stated that her party would prevent Kyiv from using French-supplied long-range weapons to strike inside Russia and would oppose sending French troops.
The left has remained relatively quiet on Ukraine – different parties from the coalition have slightly different stances – France Unbowed is against what it calls ��escalation�� with Russia.
Macron��s central bloc appears to have held up quite well, winning 163 seats. Despite losing approximately 100 MPs, it��s a much better result than what the polls were predicting, although a shift in power from the Elys��e to the National Assembly is expected.
Macron��s gamble may have kept the far right from seizing power, but it could yet plunge the country into chaos. With no parliamentary elections scheduled for another year, France is set for an uncertain time, with the world��s eyes firmly on Paris as it prepares to host the Olympics in just three weeks.
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