A serious defeat for President Macron: he clearly missed the absolute majority in the parliamentary elections. For his political projects, he now has to look for support outside of his own middle camp. Le Pen’s right-wing nationalist party has grown massively.
8:02 p.m .: In the decisive round of the French parliamentary elections, President Emmanuel Macron’s electoral alliance is facing a defeat. According to the first projections from Sunday evening, his alliance ensemble loses the absolute majority and only gets 200 to 260 seats, with 289 seats needed for the absolute majority. The left-green alliance Nupes has 150 to 200 seats.
Should Macron’s electoral alliance only have a relative majority, the president’s reform plans are likely to become more difficult. The Nupes voter alliance, which was only founded after the presidential election, is expected to replace the conservative Republicans as the largest opposition faction.
The big winner of the parliamentary elections could be the right-wing populist Rassemblement National party, which according to projections will have 60 to 100 MPs in the National Assembly. This means that for the first time she can form her own parliamentary group, which in turn means more financial support and more speaking time.
6:14 p.m .: In the second round of the parliamentary elections in France on Sunday, there was a low turnout. According to the Interior Ministry in Paris, turnout was 38.11 percent as of 5 p.m., compared to 39.42 percent in the first round at this time. At 38.11 percent, however, it was higher than in the 2017 general election at this time (35.33 percent).
Shortly before the first polling stations closed, five polling institutes estimated turnout at 53.5 to 54 percent.
In the second round on this Sunday, around 48 million French people were asked to cast their votes. The polling stations should be open until 6 p.m., in large cities also until 8 p.m. In most French overseas territories, citizens were able to cast their votes on Saturday.
According to polls, President Emmanuel Macron’s party alliance was at risk of losing its absolute majority. If the election turns out to be very close, the exact distribution of seats in the National Assembly could only become known late at night.
3:07 p.m .: The final of the parliamentary elections began in France on Sunday. Around 48.9 million registered voters can cast their vote. Shortly after the re-election of President Emmanuel Macron, the French choose the 577 members of the National Assembly. The polling stations opened at 8 a.m. in the morning.
For the center politician Macron, it is about securing a parliamentary majority in his second term. After the first round of elections last weekend, it did not seem certain that the presidential camp would be able to maintain its absolute majority in parliament. While the liberal Macron felt the competition from the strengthened right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen when he was re-elected president a few weeks ago, this time it is coming from the left.
The new alliance of Left Party, Socialists, Greens and Communists, led by Macron’s opponent Jean-Luc Mélenchon, can hope for significantly more seats in Parliament than before. The 70-year-old old left had previously managed to unite the fragmented left camp behind him. Should the president’s center camp achieve only a relative majority, the president and government would be forced to seek support from the other camps. This would make it more difficult for Macron to implement his plans without major cuts.
Important projects are waiting to be implemented in France: improvements in the education and healthcare systems are being called for, many people are hoping for support from the government in view of the rising prices and many want more energetic steps in the climate crisis. In addition, Macron wants to push through a controversial pension reform, the French should work longer.
Regardless of how plentiful or narrow the majority is for the presidential camp: France under Macron should remain a reliable partner for Germany and Europe. In the conflict with Moscow over the war of aggression against Ukraine, the country is also likely to remain an integral part of the West’s closed front against Russia.
Almost every fifth person entitled to vote had already cast their vote by noon. At 12 p.m. the turnout was 18.99 percent, as the Interior Ministry in Paris announced on Sunday. That was a good 0.5 percent more than at the same time in the first round of voting a week ago. In some French overseas territories, the election began on Saturday due to the time difference.
