For France’s head of state, the result of the parliamentary elections is a debacle. After losing a seat, he can only continue to govern with a relative majority and has to seek support from other parties. At the same time, the right-wing Le Pen is showing off with its party.
One could almost think that the calendar on the international stage hardly gave French President Emmanuel Macron time for a home stop for the parliamentary elections. Just one more visit to the troops in Romania, a stopover in Moldova and then the long-awaited visit to Kyiv before we continue in a few days to the EU summit in Brussels and then to the G7 meeting at Schloss Elmau.
On Sunday, however, for the elections to the National Assembly, the head of state cast his vote as usual in the seaside resort of Le Touquet – only to shortly afterwards face a new reality, firmly grounded. After the first round of elections was tight, Macron’s middle camp only achieved a relative majority with the loss of many seats. Both the radical left and, in particular, the right-wing Rassemblement National grew strongly – a real embarrassment for the ambitious head of state.
Because the Liberal, who has only just been re-elected for a second term, must now adjust to a limitation of his power. He now needs the support of other camps in Parliament to press ahead with his reform plans in France and Europe, and his strengthened opponents will not miss any opportunity to gain influence. The last time France had such a government with a relative majority was under François Mitterrand (1988-1991).
While the 44-year-old’s will to modernize France and reform the EU seems unbroken, the enthusiasm of many French people, which accompanied him when he started in the Élysée Palace in 2017, has long since evaporated. After the first term of office, which was accompanied by protests, corona restrictions and the Ukraine crisis, there is a lot of disappointment with the young president, who started out as a high-flyer.
This can be read in the election results from Sunday evening. According to the projections, the presidential camp is suffering heavy losses and only has 210 to 250 of the 577 seats in parliament. 289 would have been required for an absolute majority. Meanwhile, the left-wing alliance forged in record time by the old-left populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon has gained 150 to 180 seats and replaced the bourgeois-conservative Républicains as the strongest opposition force. These lose heavily and come to 60 to 78 seats.
Mélenchon sharply attacked Macron and his camp on election night. “This is a total debacle of the presidential party.” Mélenchon also spoke of an “electoral defeat of Macronism”. He renewed the claim of the left-wing alliance he led to want to govern the country. “All options are in your hands,” he shouted in front of cheering supporters.
However, the growth of Marine Le Pen’s right-wing Rassemblement National is spectacular, with the number of its parliamentary seats projected to increase more than tenfold to between 80 and 100 seats. First-past-the-post system had slowed the party down until now. Only those who win a constituency get a seat, and there are no second votes in France. Now the right-wing party became the strongest force in significantly more constituencies.
Despite a clearly reduced majority for the pro-European Macron, Berlin and Brussels should be able to rely on France in the future. Because the Franco-German axis is a priority for the President. Especially in the Ukraine crisis, he and Chancellor Olaf Scholz moved together, most recently during the trip to Kyiv together. Many impulses came from the restless Macron, on humanitarian issues, averting a food crisis and also as a mediator, the Frenchman maintains contact and a diplomatic bridge to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. In the EU, Macron is likely to remain the driver of reforms to strengthen Europe, even if some of his visions did not find a majority and also focused on French interests.
In France itself, where Macron set about reforming the encrusted political system and renewing the economy when he took office in 2017, the balance is mixed. On the plus side, Macron notes that the economy picked up speed again after the Corona crisis and that employment increased. The propagated reindustrialization is showing its first results and foreign investments in France, especially from Germany, have picked up. France is back, it is said not only by Macron. However, many people feel that their needs are not being taken care of, they are left behind and a number of construction sites remain open.
And instead of visionary speeches, many French people are currently hoping for support from the government in view of the rising prices. The state of the schools and the health system is also top of the list. The sticking point remains the pension, Macron wants to raise the entry age to 65 years, Mélenchon wants to lower it to 60 years. But this dispute is not only being fought in Parliament, but also on the streets.
by Michael Evers and Christian Böhmer, dpa
