The Left Popular Front, an alliance of socialist communists and greens, won France’s elections in the second round without securing an absolute majority, contrary to polls that attributed a victory to France’s far-right National Union, as in the first round.
According to early forecasts, the left-wing alliance managed to surpass France’s far-right National Union, which led in votes in the first round, and Rebirth, President Emmanuel Macron’s coalition, and could expect to have between 175 and 205 seats in the French parliament.
The biggest loser of the night was Unián Nacional, which dropped two places from the first to the second round. Polls put all the Macronists in second place with 150-180 seats, ahead of the far-right National Union party with 115-155 elected deputies.
REACTIONS
Jean-Luc MelenchonThe leader of the “France Unbowed” party stressed that Macron must “call the Popular Left Front to power.”
“The prime minister must go. He must bow down and accept this defeat without trying to circumvent it in any way. The president has the power, he has the responsibility to call the New Popular Front to rule,” he added.
Olivie ForeThe secretary of the Socialist Party welcomed the results, which “made it possible to avoid the worst.”
“The New Popular Front must take charge of this new page of our history. We will have only one compass: the compass of the New Popular Front program,” he said.
Emmanuel Macron called for prudence, arguing that the results do not answer the question of “who should be governed.”
Jordan BardellaThe National Union’s candidate for prime minister criticised the creation of “unnatural” political alliances aimed at “preventing the true vote of the French people”.
“We are left without a government that can act and lead France out of its real problems. The coalition will lead the country into a dead end.”
Leader of the French far right Marine Le Pen said victory had been “simply delayed.”
“The tide is rising. This time it hasn’t risen high enough, but it is rising. And therefore our victory will take some time,” said the host of the private channel TF1.
Sea TondelierA Green Party spokesman said the election was won by “social and environmental justice and the people.” “We will govern,” he said.
Historical participation
The turnout rate in the second round of the French legislative elections was 26.63% at 12 noon (11 a.m. in Lisbon) and 59.71% at 5 p.m., higher than in the first round.
This figure is the highest in legislative elections since 1981 (28.3%), when the left came to power.
In the first round on June 30, Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Union (RN, for its French acronym) party managed to win its first legislative election, taking 33.1% of the vote and nearly doubling its support since France last elected its National Assembly in 2022.
Author: Sara Reis Teixeira
Source: CM Jornal
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