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Amélie de Montchalin (on June 14)
Photo: ALAIN JOCARD / AFP
French Environment Minister Amélie de Montchalin suffered a defeat in the final round of the French parliamentary elections.
The head of department, who stood for President Emmanuel Macron's camp, lost her constituency in the Essonne department in the greater Paris area, as she confirmed in the evening.
She will no longer be part of the new government, she said.
Before the election, it was said that ministers would have to vacate their posts if they failed in their constituencies.
The representative of the left-wing alliance Nupes, Jérôme Guedj, prevailed against the department head.
In the government of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented on May 20, de Montchalin has a comparatively prominent role;
she is fifth on the list of ministers.
Overall, it was a bitter election night for President Macron's camp, and according to projections, his center alliance clearly missed an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
In the final round of the parliamentary elections on Sunday, the Liberals came to 210 to 250 of the 577 seats.
The new left alliance, led by left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon, will have between 150 and 180 seats in parliament.
At least 289 seats are required for an absolute majority.
Presidential camp suffers setback
The result is a major blow to Macron, whose camp currently holds an absolute majority in the lower house of parliament.
Normally, the parliamentary elections held shortly after the presidential election are seen as a confirmation, so that the same political force often wins with an absolute majority.
The new left-wing alliance and Mélenchon, on the other hand, achieved enormous success, giving them more influence as the most powerful opposition group.
The right-wing extremist Marine Le Pen can also feel like a winner: the woman who challenged Macron to be a finalist in the presidential election in April is likely to place 85 MPs in parliament.
That's a lot more than expected, given that the electoral system favors centrist parties.
jok/AFP
