France has been reported to be grappling with a hung parliament and the prospect of taxing negotiations starting Monday to form a government, following a surprising left-wing surge that blocked Marine Le Pen’s quest to bring the far right to power.
The leftist New Popular Front (NFP) emerged as the dominant force in the National Assembly after Sunday’s election.
However, with no single group securing a working majority, the possibilities include the NFP forming a minority government or the building of a broad, unwieldy coalition.
This outcome delivers a stinging blow to President Emmanuel Macron, leaving the euro zone’s second-largest economy in limbo and heralding a period of political instability just weeks before Paris hosts the Olympic Games.
Macron’s centrist alliance ended up with a hugely fragmented parliament, which is set to weaken France’s role in the European Union and beyond, making it difficult for anyone to push through a domestic agenda. The left won 182 seats, Macron’s centrist alliance secured 168, and Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) and allies garnered 143, according to interior ministry data cited by Le Monde newspaper.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced he would tender his resignation, but it remains unclear whether the president will accept it immediately, given the daunting task ahead of forming a government. Attal expressed his willingness to stay on in a caretaker role.
“I will, of course, do my duties as long as it’s needed – it cannot be otherwise on the eve of a date (the Olympics) that is so important for our country,” Attal stated as it became clear Macron’s alliance had endured a humbling setback.
Parties from the NFP, made up of the French Communist Party, hard-left France Unbowed, the Greens, and the Socialist Party — met overnight for initial talks on how to proceed.
France Unbowed’s firebrand leader Jean-Luc Melenchon asserted that the new prime minister should hail from the NFP. However, the bloc has no leader, and its parties are strongly divided over who they could select as a suitable premier.
Some prominent centrist figures, including Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister under Macron, have expressed readiness to work on a pact to ensure a stable government.
The euro fell on Sunday after the vote projections were announced.
“There’s really going to be a vacuum when it comes to France’s legislative ability,” said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex Europe in London.
For Le Pen’s RN, the result was a far cry from weeks during which opinion polls consistently projected it would win comfortably. The left and centrist alliances cooperated after the first round of voting last week by pulling scores of candidates from three-way races to build a unified anti-RN vote.
In his first reaction, RN leader Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s protégé, called the cooperation between anti-RN forces a “disgraceful alliance” that he said would paralyze France.
Le Pen, who will likely be the party’s candidate for the 2027 presidential election, stated that Sunday’s ballot, in which the RN made major gains compared with previous elections, had sown the seeds for the future.
“Our victory has been merely delayed,” she said.
As darkness fell on Sunday, the statue of Marianne in Place de la Republique was lit up by fireworks amid celebrations by left-wing supporters. Marianne is a national symbol of France, representing reason, liberty, and the ideals of the republic.
Baptiste Fourastié, a 23-year-old designer in Place de la Republique, said, “We weren’t expecting it, neither were the polls. We are happy that the French people succeeded once more in blocking the far right.”
However, he expressed concern that the right may grow in strength and win next time if the next government is not beyond reproach. “It will be difficult with a hung parliament, but better than if it was the far right (ahead),” he added.
Chioma Kalu
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