Paris, June 19 (BNA): French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition is expected to lose its majority despite winning the largest number of seats in the last round of parliamentary elections on Sunday, as the far-right National Rally appears to have made significant gains.
The projections, based in part on results, show Macron’s candidates will win between 200 and 250 seats – well short of the 289 seats needed for a straight majority in the National Assembly, France’s most powerful parliament.
The situation, which is unusual in France, is expected to make Macron’s political maneuvering difficult if expectations are confirmed, according to the Associated Press.
A new coalition – made up of the hard left, socialists and the Greens – is expected to become the main opposition force with around 150 to 200 seats.
The National Rally is expected to record a big boom with the number of seats likely to be more than 80, compared to eight before. A nationwide vote was held to select 577 members of Parliament.
Strong performances by both the National Rally and the Left Coalition, led by hard-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, are expected to make it more difficult for Macron to implement the agenda re-elected in May, including tax cuts and France’s pension hike. Age from 62 to 65.
The leader of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, who lost to Macron in the presidential election in May, has been re-elected in her stronghold of Henin-Beaumont, northern France.
Macron’s government will still have the power to govern, but only by bargaining with lawmakers. Centrists could try to negotiate on a case-by-case basis with center-left and Conservative lawmakers – with the goal of preventing opposition MPs from being numerous enough to reject the proposed measures.
The government can also sometimes use a special procedure established by the French constitution to adopt a law without a vote.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who himself won a seat in his constituency in northern France, asserted that Melenchon “lost his bet” on winning the election. Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne also won a seat in western France.
A similar situation occurred in 1988 under Socialist President François Mitterrand, who then had to seek support from communists or centrists to pass laws.
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