Paris: A leftist coalition, the New Popular Front, has won the most seats in the 2024 French legislative election, beating back a far-right surge but failing to win a majority. The outcome leaves France facing the stunning prospect of a hung parliament and threatens political paralysis in a pillar of the European Union and Olympic host country.
Who is Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the hard-left leader claiming victory?
Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon has long been a figure on the left, first in the Socialist Party and as a senator. He founded the hard-left France Unbowed party in 2016 but failed to reach the presidential runoff in 2017 and 2022. He then allied his party with the Socialists, Communists and greens to form the New Popular Ecological and Social Union.
Mélenchon is a divisive figure who angers many moderates. The alliance fell into disarray because of divisions over the Hamas-Israel war. The France Unbowed party condemned the conduct of Israel’s war against Hamas and accused it of pursuing genocide against Palestinians. Party leaders denied antisemitism.
Then last month, Mélenchon’s party joined a similar alliance that was quickly thrown together for snap elections in response to the prospect of the far right gaining power. The alliance had more luck this time, winning the largest number of seats.
It’s official: French voters have rejected a far-right majority in favor of a surge on the left
According to the Interior Ministry, the leftist coalition has taken the most seats in parliament, with at least 181. Macron’s centrists have more than 160 seats. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally have 143 seats after leading in the first round.
No majority for anyone. The unpopular Macron will have to form alliances to run the government. Many voters decided that keeping the far right from power was more important than anything else.
The new government: Unknowns and options
“Our country is facing an unprecedented political situation and is preparing to welcome the world in a few weeks.” That’s from Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who plans to offer his resignation on Monday.
The weakened Macron could seek a deal with the moderate left to create a joint government, but France has no tradition of this kind of arrangement. A deal could take the form of a loose, informal alliance that likely would be fragile. And already, leaders of the leftist New Popular Front are pushing Macron to give their alliance the first chance to form a government and propose a prime minister to share power with him.
If he can’t make a deal, Macron could name a government of experts unaffiliated with political parties to handle the day-to-day work of keeping one of Europe’s largest countries running. But that would require parliamentary approval. And the first session with new members of the 577-seat National Assembly is July 18.
Meanwhile, no clear figure has emerged as a possible prime minister. Macron’s office has said he would wait for the new National Assembly to take shape before taking “the necessary decisions.”
France’s prime minister says he will resign
French Prime Minister c Attal says he will turn in his resignation. This comes after projections show a leftist coalition has surged to the lead in legislative elections. But Attal says he will remain in the post during the Paris Olympics and for as long as needed.
The polling projections show that no party has won an outright majority. There likely will be weeks of intense political negotiations to choose a new prime minister and form a government. France’s president risks being forced to share power with a prime minister opposed to his pro-business, pro-European Union policies.
Attal became France’s youngest prime minister earlier this year.
