First round of French parliamentary elections: Macron's majority in jeopardy

Less than two months after winning the second term, Macron faces a significant challenge from a united left-wing bloc that, according to opinion polls, could steal the majority from him, even if he does not take over parliament.

Reuters

12/06/2022

Sunday, 12 June 2022, 10:02 Updated: 11:17

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French voters are going to the polls today (Sunday) in the first of two rounds to determine whether President Emanuel Macron will get the majority he needs in parliament or be left without support to advance his reforms.

The vote is for 577 seats in the lower house, the National Assembly.

The composition of the new parliament will only become clear after the second round on 19 June.

Less than two months after winning the second term, Macron faces a significant challenge from a united left-wing bloc that, according to opinion polls, could take the majority away from him, even if he does not take over parliament.

Government sources expect a poor result in the first round of Macron's "Ensemble" coalition, with a record number of voters - more than 50% - expected not to go to the polls and amid public outrage over the rising cost of living.

The bloc of far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon hopes to profit from this.

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French President Emmanuel Macron (Photo: AP, Gonzalo Fuentes / AP)

The danger for Macron is that his ability to pass economic reforms, including raising the retirement age and cutting taxes, will be significantly hurt.

His opponents on the left are pushing for lowering the retirement age and raising public spending.

Preliminary forecasts after the presidential election showed that Macron is actually expected to get a majority in parliament.

But President Macron has recently maintained a low profile and rarely appears in public.

Melenchon, on the other hand, managed to forge an alliance between his movement, France Unbowed, the Socialists and the Greens.

It is now predicted that Macron and his allies, including former Prime Minister Edward Philippe's new party, could get less than 289 seats - maybe even 40 seats.

Such a scenario would force him to turn to other political parties, which would create a situation where each law had to be agreed separately with right-wing parties.

A victory for the Left Alliance would be a disaster for Macron.

The left bloc is threatening Macron.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, far-left candidate (Photo: AP)

Out of the 577 legislators in the National Assembly, eight represent French territories outside the country and 11 represent French citizens living abroad. Macron and his allies now have 345 seats.

Under French law, a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote on voting day, as well as The support of at least 25% of the registered voters to officially win the first round.If not, the two leading candidates, as well as any candidate who received the support of at least 12.5% ​​of the electorate, will advance to the second round, then the candidate with the most votes will win.

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